Xperiment

Carson began the promotional rollout for Xperiment at Rolling Loud 2026 in Orlando, Florida on May 10, 2026, which he headlined after YoungBoy Never Broke Again dropped out three days prior.^[4] During his set, Carson brought out multiple guests including Destroy Lonely, Playboi Carti, Young Thug, and Lil Tecca, and previewed unreleased music with the artists as well as a track with 2hollis.^[5][4] Following Rolling Loud, Carson began teasing concept merch, trailers, and art for the album on an alternative Instagram account, xperimenting0_0.^[6] On June 14, 2026, he revealed the album's release date of July 3, 2026, through a teaser trailer posted on X, which was confirmed by a pre-save link days later.^[7]

Carson teased additional music whilst performing at Summer Smash in Chicago^[7] on June 22, 2026.^[8] A USB drive became the rollout's "central motif", with featured artists sharing pictures of it on Instagram and its 22-song tracklist and unreleased material being teased through hidden drives discovered by fans in the cities of Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.^[7] Carson revealed the track listing on June 30.^[9] Following three European festival performances from July to August, the Xperimenting Tour (comprising fourteen concerts across the United States) is planned to take place from August 26 to September 23; DJ Moon, Prettifun, and Xaviersobased are the planned opening acts. A special solo performance at ComplexCon 2026 on October 3 is also billed under the tour name.^[10] Following the release, a pop-up for the album was hosted in the ESSX store in the Lower East Side of New York City.^[11]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Pitchfork	5.0/10[1]
Slant	[13]

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Xperiment received mixed reviews from music critics. A reviewer for AllMusic praised the project, writing how it sees Carson still maintain the post-rage rap sound that he's known for, but sees him incorporate new beat and flow variations, and general approach significantly more than he has on past releases.^[12] Kyle Denis of Billboard felt that the album "solidifies [Carson] as a true niche superstar, particularly one who can converse with his fanbase in the creation of the music while still packing surprises at nearly every turn."^[2] Less favourably, Eli Enis of Pitchfork felt that Carson sounded creatively exhausted and "tired" of the rage formula that made him popular, and that his lyrical themes, producers, and guest features were "chained to the very formula that [the album] purports to deviate from". However, he praised "Deaf Note" with Playboi Carti and "Possession" for showcasing Carson as an "alluringly naughty hedonist dripping with personality and armed with the ability to make every line a memorable callout" and Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert's appearances on "Ghost" and "Drug Kit", which he viewed as its best tracks.^[1]

Paul Attard of Slant Magazine similarly felt that Xperiment did not deviate from Carson's sound on A Great Chaos and More Chaos and that whilst he had appeal with his "snickers, vocal contortions, and dim-witted quotables with an impulsive, sneering energy", this "remains the only thing [he] does well".^[13] Enis and Attard both deemed "ShadesOn" (which features Carson rapping over an instrumental of the 2hollis song "Girl"), the album's worst track, with the former calling it "misleadingly credited" and criticizing Carson for not adapting his flows and themes to the song's production.^[1][13]

According to Luminate data reported by Billboard, Xperiment earned 42,000 album-equivalent units in its first week in the United States. The report did not break down this figure into album sales, streaming-equivalent albums, and track-equivalent albums, instead simply stating that "Essentially all of that sum is driven by [streaming-equivalent album] units" from 44.89 million on-demand official streams. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and number six on Top Streaming Albums.^[14] According to Hits data, it earned 42,549 album-equivalent units in its first week in the US, comprising 623 album sales, 41,896 streaming-equivalent albums, and 30 track-equivalent albums.^[15]

These credits have been adapted from Tidal.^[18]

Technical

• Chanyong "CY" Park – additional engineering (tracks 1, 10, 12, 20–21)
• Drew Kelly – additional engineering (tracks 1, 10, 12, 20–21)
• Hayden Grant – additional engineering (tracks 1, 10, 12, 20–21)
• Liam Kachele – additional engineering (tracks 1, 10, 12, 20–21)
• Luan Ho – additional engineering (tracks 1, 10, 12, 20–21)
• Ben Lidsky – engineering (tracks 1, 5–12, 20–21); mixing (tracks 1, 3–21)
• Glenn Schick – mastering (tracks 1–22)
• Corey Moon – engineering (tracks 2–4, 13–17, 21)
• Marcus Fritz – mixing (tracks 2, 22); engineering (track 22)
• Argenis "Trilla" Peguero – engineering (track 11)
• Bainz – engineering (track 12)
• Max Lord – engineering (tracks 18–19)

Quick facts Cartunez, Released ...

Cartunez
Studio album (reissue)[a] by Ken Carson
Released	August 27, 2026
Genres	Rage trap
Length	31:47
Labels	Opium Interscope
Producers	1kyl 2hollis Acog AM Art Dealer Brook Beatz Clayco Clif Shayne Curesful DJ Moon Dulio Einthismf EIementry Legion Lil88 Lucian MaxFlames Misogi Oj2milly Outtatown Paulo Soda Samsson Skai Streehtpalm Stormdidit Star Boy
Ken Carson chronology
Xperiment (2026) Cartunez (2026) 00Twinz (2026)

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The album was reissued in a deluxe edition called Cartunez on August 27, 2026. Cartunez was initially intended to be a mixtape but was then expanded into a reissue of Xperiment.^[7][38][39] It features guest appearances by Destroy Lonely, OsamaSon, and ApolloRed1. Upon release, Xperiment re-entered the Billboard 200 and charted at number 52 on the charts, selling approximately 15,000 equivalent album units in its first week.^[40]