Floridian emcee Denzel Curry gearing up for his upcoming 6th album by releasing his 5th mixtape ahead of it. Coming up as a member of the SpaceGhostPurrp-founded Raider Klan a little over a decade ago. He then left in 2013 & has seen quite the success on his own off projects like Nostalgia 64, 32 Zel (Planet Shrooms), imperial, TA13OO, Zuu & the Kenny Beats-produced UNLOCKED. Melt My Eyez, See Your Future went on to become his most mature & acclaimed body of work to date & I had no problem in him making Ultraground a sequel to his best mixtape King of the Mischievous South.
After the intro, the first song “Ultra Shxt” featuring Key Nyata is a Memphis inspired opener with both of them talking about never folding whereas “Set It” featuring Maxo Kream has an eerie trap direction that Oogie Mane of Working on Dying goes for telling everyone to run it right there. “Hot One” featuring A$AP Ferg & TiaCorine produced by FNZ mixes Memphis rap & trillwave together making money from the comfort of their sofas just before “Black Flag” featuring That Mexican O.T. continues to pull inspiration from the Memphis scene smoking on bitter motherfuckers & calling it sour.
After the “Headcrack” interlude, “G’z Up” featuring Mike Dimes & 2 Chainz has more of a symphonic trap flare to the beat refusing to hear shit until they get paid leading into the bombastic “Sked” featuring Kenny Mason & Project Pat following the “Lunatic” interlude explaining they about family, God, business & bread. After the “Choose Wisely” interlude, “Cole Pimp” featuring Juicy J luxuriously paints themselves as big players while “Wishlist” featuring Armani White charmingly shows the lames how to do this.
“Hit the Floor” featuring Ski Mask the Slump Godnears the end of the tape on some rage shit dropping bodies 1-by-1 & the final song “Hoodlumz” featuring A$AP Rocky & PlayThatBoiZay ahead of the outro officially wraps up King of the Mischievous South 2: Ultraground with 1 last cloudy Memphis joint & all 3 of them painting images of the lifestyles that each one of themselves live. “Act a Damn Fool” featuring Duke Deuce & Slim Guerilla is a decently trippy start to the deluxe run wylin’ out while “Got Me Geeked” makes up for it from the Powers Pleasant instrumental to the carefree lyricism.
Key Nyata & Sauce Walka join Denzel on “P.O.P. (Paper Over Pussy)” heads for a smooth trap direction prioritizing money instead of bitches while the cloudy “Anotha Late Night” featuring 454 finds both of them teaming up to talk about shawties wanting to test the pimp in them. The final bonus track “Still in the Paint” featuring Bktherula & Lazer Dim 700 samples the iconic Waka Flocka Flame single “Hard in da Paint” capturing the raw energy & reality of life in the streets by conveying themes of loyalty, resilience & authenticity.
Everything that made King of the Mischievous South my favorite tape that Zel has offered us yet has been brought to a whole new level over a decade after a predecessor. He went harder on the features than he did on his mature magnum opus 2 & a half years ago, the reference points from which he draws has expanded significantly. He still has a hypnotic ear even though no longer cakes his music in warped cassette grime, it’s just that he’s seeing Memphis with new eyes now that he’s older & has a decade of experimentation under his belt.
Score: 4.5/5
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