While there have been many changes in the world in the past few years, there have been many constants in the music industry in the past decade: Drake continues to dominate the game, Beyoncé retains her throne as Queen, and Ryan Carter releases an LP every year.
Something feels off as we now head into March of 2021. The parody hip-hop artist has been largely absent from the game. With his last full-length offering, “HUMAN ERROR” released in October of 2019, Carter has kept fans worldwide in the dark about his upcoming projects. With the exception of an ambient track, “Bleak Desolate Days” released in 2020. Ryan has not released anything in the hip-hop genre in this decade.
Coming off an award-winning double album, 2018’s “The Doctorate”, Ryan Carter took a more ballad-friendly approach with ‘Human Error’. With songs like “Red-Eye”, “I Got Hard”, and “Run Away”, all styled similar to songs from his earlier days. After signing a distribution deal with Sonorous/Universal Records many expected a steady stream of music after 2019. However, this has not been the case as the comedic MC has not released a hip-hop project in nearly a year and a half.
Looking closer into Carter’s social media presence, it seems the Detroit native has been focusing primarily on his philanthropic endeavors. Through his own Ryan Carter Foundation, he has been helping families throughout the pandemic and continues to be involved in community projects in his hometown. Recently, Ryan Carter has become an investor in an upcoming grocery store in Detroit. Using his platform in a positive way unlike so many in the industry, but being unorthodox is something that has worked since he burst into the scene in 2013.
We don’t know what tomorrow holds as we all hope for an end to the pandemic. As we go through these uncertain times, music is often our escape from reality. We miss the funny parody albums from Ryan Carter. We miss the self-deprecating lyrics, the gross description of sexual encounters with elderly women, and the brutal honesty. We salute his commendable community service and we eagerly await his return.