Ken Carson Kicks Off ‘The Xperiment’ Rollout With Star-Studded Rolling Loud Orlando Set Feat. Playboi Carti, Young Thug, Destroy Lonely & Lil Tecca

When NBA YoungBoy announced he was dropping out of his headlining slot at Rolling Loud Orlando on Thursday (May 7), festival organizers were left scrambling. Artists like Rod Wave and YEAT were speculated to be floated, but RL ultimately settled on Ken Carson to close out Sunday night (May 10).

On its face, the decision made sense with fellow Opium titans Destroy Lonely and Playboi Carti performing on Saturday (May 9), so much of the label’s fanbase was already going to be on festival grounds for the weekend.

Carson, whose More Chaos topped the Billboard 200 last year, continued his elevation by taking advantage of the real estate using his newfound headlining Rolling Loud set to kick-start The Xperiment era.

The Atlanta native hit the smoky stage around 9 p.m. ET and premiered an unreleased track, which is expected to appear on his upcoming LP, that had the crowd going berserk and chanting along to the rage-filled production.

The 26-year-old kept the energy up, jumping around his catalog for the first 13 songs or so, which included the anticipated unreleased snippet “Grow Apart,” but understood the assignment as a headliner looking to make a statement to hip-hop and invite other fans who may not be as familiar with his discography.

Enter some star-studded guests, the first being Lil Tecca. The “Dark Thoughts” rapper was a seamless fit and was more than worthy of having his own set at the main stage this year, coming off a major 2025. The duo joined forces for “Tic Tac Toe” and “500lbs.”

Fellow Opium runningmate Destroy Lonely was next up in the lineup, as they connected for “The Acronym” and “Singapore,” the latter of which was without their mentor Playboi Carti. “That’s my song, too,” he quipped from backstage while watching his pupils.

Young Thug was all over Rolling Loud throughout the weekend and he didn’t even have his own set. Billboard spotted Thug enjoying some Popeyes near the festival earlier in the weekend. He popped out once again for Ken Carson, while they performed his UY SCUTI standout “Yuck” and then Thugger took the solo spotlight to revv up the crowd for his “Digits” classic.

Some might say they save the best for last, and Playboi Carti batted clean-up in the all-star guest line-up. He traded his YSL suit look for a 2Pac t-shirt, leather pants, and a pair of crispy white high-top Air Force Ones.

The 00 connection premiered a pair of collaborations, including the bouncy “ARP,” which finds Carti utilizing his deep voice flow, while “Cover My Ears” leans into the Whole Lotta Red-esque production that’s been a mainstay for the rock stars.

Carson teased mere seconds-long snippets of unreleased grails “Boil” and “Stars” before finishing off his potent set with another new song, which is heavily influenced by 2hollis’ “Girl.” One poignant bar found KC getting vulnerable about critics boxing him into one genre. “No matter what I make, they gon’ call it rage,” he raps.

As the dust settled on another successful Rolling Loud weekend, one fan emerged from the moshpit warfare, lending his stamp of approval. “That was the greatest set of my life,” he said to a friend while coming down from a euphoric high.

Ken Carson notched his first No. 1 album last year and his recent tour stops across the globe have looked bonkers. If he plays his cards right heading into The Xperiment, rap could have another niche superstar on its hands that the mainstream won’t be able to ignore.