Ken Carson's great xperiment 🖤
HUH HUH HUH
THE BEAT DROP 🥁
A pulse of the culture.
If you’re reading this it’s another Sunday in the culture, and I’ve finally played something other than ICEMAN, thanks to Ken Carson’s new release with xperiment. Also this week, Tay Keith was laid to rest in Memphis and the Beyhive was buzzing with glee when Beyoncé officially released “DONK” on DSPs July 4.
THIS WEEK’S TRACKLIST 💿
The most important news items of the week.
Ken Carson released his highly-anticipated project xperiment and it’s fuego.
Beyoncé took over July 4 with the official release of “DONK.”
Tay Keith’s funeral took place in Memphis where Sexyy Red, Gunna and BlocBoy JB, among others, paid their respects.
The 2026 XXL Freshman Class was announced with Chris Patrick, Belly Gang Kushington, Slayr, La Reezy, Trim, Trap Dickey, Babyfxce E, Hurricane Wisdom, YKNiece, Skrilla, Sosocamo and 10th-spot winner Miles Minnick.
India Arie expressed she doesn’t like the message of Yung Miami’s “Spend Dat” and J White Did-It, the song’s producer, decided to troll her with a version that used her song “Video.”
Kai Cenat’s Streamer University is underway and set to start Monday, July 6.
Ice Spice and Tobey Maguire were allegedly seen making out at Michael Rubin’s White Party…but her teams says they were just sharing a vape.
André 3000 says he has new music otw.
Concordia Univeristy in Montreal is set to offer a course on Drake this coming fall which includes readings from Carl Jung.
Pooh Shiesty’s alleged Gucci Mane robbery hit the net in 4k. The “Back in Blood” rapper’s trial is set for February 22, 2027.
BARS OF THE WEEK 🎤
Notable quotes or lyrics that made waves.
“This shit hit so hard, they gon cop the vinyl and CD / Pull up to a rockstar show, yeah, come see me.” — Ken Carson on “edm” spitting facts.
“Saw a fit in Gucci and I kidnapped it” — Rylo Rodriguez on “Low Top Vanz” (is it too soon? 😭).
“Bad yellow b*tch look like Bardi in this motherf*cka.” — Cardi B switching up the lyrics to “ErrTime” in the midst of her beef with Latto.
CHART TOPPERS 📈
Notable top-performing rap and R&B tracks on streaming platforms and charts.
Yung Miami’s “Spend Dat” hit #25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Drake’s ICEMAN entered at #2 on the Billboard 200 charts after being at #1 for four weeks while “Janice STFU” sits at #6 on the Hot 100 charts.
Meanwhile, Chris Brown’s BROWN entered at #22 on the Billboard 20 and YE's BULLY re-entered at #28.
SOUND WATCH 🎧
Upcoming releases and recent drops worth noting.
Ken Carson dropped xperiement 22 tracks deep and it came with plenty of guest appearances. Once you press play, you’ll hear Playboi Carti on “wedidit,” Young Thug on “drug kit” and Lil Uzi Vert on my personal fave “ghost.” “wrist” goes crazy too. This isn’t it though. On July 10, expect something called Cartunez to hit your speakers, followed by 00Twinz with Destroy Lonely to wrap the year up on Oct. 30.
Rylo Rodriguez dropped his project S.K.A.T.E. (Silence Keeps All Targets Exposed) which includes the banger “Neighborhood Starz" with Lil Baby and Kevin Gates. Veeze, NoCap, YTB Fatt, among others also make an appearance.
Beyoncé reached down in the vault and released “Morning Dew (DONK),” a Self-Titled leftover that fans overly love.
Rico Nasty reunited with Kenny Beats for her new single “Cupcake.”
Smiley released something smooth his track “Two Tone.”
Fatt Smaxk came through ballin on the motivating “Up The Score.”
Naomi Sharon delivered her sophomore album, No Sleep In Paradise.
NBA Youngboy gets reflective on his latest release “Try So Hard.”
Bino Rideaux and the late Nipsey Hussle’s “All Summer” is out ahead of thier collaborative effort Prolific.
BBYKOBE came through with the R&B-tinged “U MISS ME.”
BJRNCK shared the music video for “Coming Home” featuring G Herbo.
Naisha came through with the summer vibes on “so then” featuring Ty Dolla $ign.
24hrs and MadeinTYO are still churning out vibes and “SLIDE” is the latest from the two brothers.
STEAK REPORT 🥩
Feuds, diss tracks and social media spats.
Cardi B tried to publicly make amends with Latto following the leak phone call of Bardi referring to the Atlanta rapper as “p*ssy ass Latto” and to no avail. But it seems she’s over it. During Cardi’s Essence Festival performance this weekend, she switched up the lyrics of “ErrTime” from "Bad yellow b*tch, look like Latto in this motherf*cka" to "Bad yellow b*tch look like Bardi in this motherf*cka."
During his Vancouver Don’t Be Dumb Tour stop, A$AP Rocky spotted a fan in the crowd waving a flag that read: “This cutie smoked all 3 of your f*ckass albums” — a clear response to the Harlem rapper’s tense back and forth with Drake. Rocky took aim at Drizzy on his Don’t Be Dumb track “Stole Ya Flow” and the Toronto rapper aimed back on ICEMAN with “Burning Bridges” that came with a viral “Where she at?” meme and emote. 🫣
Offset banned Rylo Rodriguez from Atlanta for dissing him on S.K.A.T.E. track "Eliza (Bless Me Up).”
TOUR BUS 🚌
Lil Wayne is currently on tour celebrating 20 years of Tha Carter…but he’s been very late to hit the stage and had to apologize for missing his first tour stop in Maine (June 30), while later showing up to Michael Rubin’s White Party (July 1) to perform the next day. The tour runs through Oct. 23. For the brave, tickets are on sale now.
Following Ken Carson’s release of xperiment, the Billboard-topper is set to go on a festival run in Europe hitting Rokslide Festival in Denmark, Splash Festival in Germany, Openair Frauenfeld in Switzerland, Clout Festival in Poland and Frequency Festival in Austria. US-based fans will be able to catch him at COMPLEXCON headlining Oct. 3. This will be right after the release of Cartunez and right before 00Twinz with Destroy Lonely, so get ready.
Don Toliver announced the second leg of his OCTANE Tour, NITROUS. There will be 19 new North American arena dates and he will bring the show overseas this fall. So if you missed (like me), here’s your chance.
FREESTYLE 🎙️
Memes and viral moments.
Ken is on a historic run. 🔥
RAP HILL ⚖️
Legal matters affecting the music industry.
Sexyy Red recently learned she was named as a defendant in a lawsuit over unpaid royalties due to frequent collaborator Tay Keith and has asked the judge to remove her name from the filing. Sexyy said she doesn’t pay producers, her label does and a rep for Tay concurred, telling TMZ, “Royalty negotiations are handled by labels — not artists — and I've worked closely with the legal counsel and team for Tay Keith to finalize the royalty agreement to fully compensate him for his valuable contributions as a musical collaborator with Sexyy."
TRENDSETTERS
Updates on key figures who are driving the culture.
Megan Thee Stallion released her floral-scented Hot Girl Summer Eau de Parfum with notes of coconut milk accord, orchid accord and vetiver. However, it’s already sold out.
OUTSIDE 📸
Sightings and appearances.
Ken Carson had the streets of London flooded at a pop-up after leaving usb drives with xperiment around different cities ahead of the albums release.
Drake was spotted at the Portugal v. Croatia FIFA World Cup Match hitting the “Where she at?” emote.
Billionaire Michael Rubin held his illustrious White Party at his Bridgehampton, New York estate and Cardi B, Travis Scott, Quavo, Jay-Z, Ice Spice, Lil Wayne, Ciara, Alicia Keys, Meek Mill along with Fat Joe, among other A-list celebs, were in attendance.
BIRTHDAYS 🎉
Celebrating artists and industry figures born this week.
PARTYNEXTDOOR, TraeABN, Plies, Missy Elliott, Vince Staples, Post Malone
OUTRO ✌🏽
A final thought.
Who Ken Carson feeling like?! The leader of the underground is about to go on a Future-like run with three projects dropping back-to-back: xperiment, which just dropped, then Cartunez on July 10 and 00Twinz with Destroy Lonely in October. It’s reminiscent of Future’s Monster-Beast Mode-56 Nights trilogy stack which at this point is Hip Hop canon. There’s a lot to say when it comes to the rising popularity of Ken and his YVL troupe, and when it comes to what matters next, Carson is right there. In 2025, I called Ken and Lone the future of Rolling Loud and knew at some point they’d be taking over as headliners, which finally happened this year. I’ve been to every Playboi Carti set at every RL I have ever attended (and I’ve attended a lot), and there’s no pit like a Ken Carson pit. ZERO. You have to experience it for yourself.
That being said, I am looking forward to seeing what Carson does in 2027. The takeover is imminent.
xx