Fans snapped late last night when Opium trendsetter Ken Carson didn’t drop on Valentine’s Day — as promised — for another consecutive year. However, patience is a virtue, as Carson silenced antsy Twitter users with his dark-hearted single “i need u” on Tuesday (Feb. 14).
With scattered, warping synths and rumbling 808s, Carson blazes through the menacing rage cut with a scathing auto-dripped flow, spitting drug-laced sweet nothings like, “Yeah, me and my bitch we be off them drugs / We match everything, yeah, cause we in love.”
Carson ties feelings of love with addiciton on “i need u” — skating over the energetic Lucian and Max Flames-produced beat with endless flex-filled lines about “turning your favorite rapper into ashes” and “I’m about to make 300K this week,” among others. He even shouts out Opium labelmate Destroy Lonely, who revealed that he and Carson have a joint project on the way this past December.
All these n***** on E
Off this ecstasy yeah bitch im on E
Yeah bitch im in this building with destroy lonley
Bad bitch she tryna put the huh huh on me,
Ken Carson — “i need u”
This is Carson’s first official single since dropping his debut album X and its coinciding deluxe XTENDED in October. Finishing off his tour with Lonely in late 2022, Carson commands an even greater hold on the new wave only three years into his Opium era.
Amid the release of “i need u,” a slew of accusations surfaced from the Opium camp this week, with Playboi Carti and Homixide Gang facing the most severe of backlash. Similarly, Homixide Gang put an end to their tour for “circumstances out of our control.” The rappers have yet to comment or affirm any of their alleged activities, whereas Carti’s Dec. 20 arrest provides insight into MUSIC’s sudden loss of steam.
New music from Carson is always exciting, but the crumbling of Opium’s image overshadows the record’s hype.
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