Denzel Curry – “King of the Mischievous South 2: Ultraground” review

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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Denzel Curry – “Melt My Eyez, See Your Future” review

Denzel Curry is a 27 year old MC from Carol City, Florida who came 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. But given that the 2 year anniversary of the latter just passed a month ago, Zel’s following up the 2 singles he’s dropped within the last few months with his 5th album.

“Melt Session #1” kicks the album off with a jazzy boom bap instrumental from Robert Glasper talking about how Zel stays walkin’ whereas “Walkin’” follows it up by sampling “The Loving Touch” by Keith Mansfield tackling the struggles of life. “Worst Comes to Worst” keeps things in boom bap turf thanks to Dot da Genius talking about institutional issues in the United States leading into the smoky “John Wayne” produced by JPEGMAFIA comparing himself to [the titular actor] when walking around the hood.

Meanwhile on “The Last”, we have Zel jumping on top of a cloudy trap beat FNZ made talking about how tomorrow’s not promised just before Saul Williams tags along for “Mental” confessing their suicidal thoughts on top of a calming boom bap beat. T-Pain comes into the picture for the vibrant”Troubles” produced by DJ Khalil & Kenny Beats talking about problems that drugs can’t solve, but then the Rico Nasty/J.I.D assisted “Ain’t No Way” finds the trio back on some trap shit addressing those who still doubt them.

“X-Wing” mixes some strings & hi-hats talking about not wanting power except the delivery makes it the weakest track on the album even with the reference to former 3-time WWE world champion Rey Mysterio while “Angelz” works in some pianos & dusty drums thanks to Karriem Riggins confessing being sick of the bullshit. “The Smell of Death” sees Thundercat incorporating a heavy amount of synthesizers for Zel to spit streams of consciousness while the song “Sanjuro” shouts out those who say he ain’t deep enough over an explosive Cardo instrumental. The penultimate track “Zatoichi” with slowthai is a cool ode to the Japanese character of the same name over a drum & bass beat from Powers Pleasant while “The Ills” ends the album on a jazzy note talking about his illusions.

Even though I liked ZUU, I think this up there with imperial & TA13OO in being one of the best albums of Zel’s career. I really admire how he continues to expand on the risks he took on the latter as well as taking influence from what’s going on right now in the world & films by one of the greatest directors of all-time: Akira Kurosawa.

Score: 4.5/5

Denzel Curry – “UNLOCKED” review

This is the new surprise EP from Carol City’s very own Denzel Curry. A man that got his start as a member of the Raider Klan, founded by SpaceGhostPurrp. His 2013 debut Nostalgic 64 was nice, but the next 2 albums he would put out Imperial & TA13OO would show his talents much more clearer. Last time we heard from Zel was this past spring with ZUU & not even 9 months later, he’s teaming up with Kenny Beats for UNLOCKED.

After the predominant spoken word intro “Track 01”, the EP’s first actual song “Take_it_Back_v2” finds Denzel lashing out & getting wreckless over a dystopian instrumental. The track “Lay_Up.m4a” talks about fighting haters over a spacious beat while the song “Pyro (leak 2019)” speaks on being on a God-level over a woozy. The track “DIET_” is pretty much Zel bragging over a trunk-knocking beat while the song “So Incredible.pkg” talks about how great he is. After the “Track 07” interlude, the closer “Cosmic.m4a” drops knowledge to the phonies tryna bite him over a hypnotic instrumental.

Didn’t think Denzel would drop new music this quickly but nonetheless, I’m very pleased with the outcome of UNLOCKED. The concept is a lot more interesting than ZUU as much as I enjoyed that previous album, Kenny reminds us that he’s one of the best producers out right now & Denzel continues his reign as the King of the Florida hip hop scene.

Score: 4/5

Denzel Curry – “ZUU” review

Denzel Curry is a 24 year old MC from Carol City, Florida who came up as a member of the Raider Klan, founded by SpaceGhostPurrp. He caught my attention in 2013 with the release of his debut album Nostalgic 64 which was good, but it wouldn’t be until 2016’s Imperial in 2016 & then last summer’s TA13OO that he would top it. However almost a year after the release of his magnum opus, he’s hitting us again with his 4th full-length album.

It all kicks off with the title track, where Zel pays tribute to his hometown & the FNZ beat has a really pretty atmosphere to it. The official WWE NXT TakeOver: WarGames theme song “RICKY” pays tribute to his father over a dirty south style-instrumental while the song “WISH” with Kiddo Marv is a mediocre sex tune a cloudy beat. The track “BIRDZ” with Rick Ross sees the 2 getting confrontational over an eerie trap beat while the song “AUTOMATIC” gets braggadocious over a bass-heavy trap beat from Tay Keith.

The track “SPEEDBOAT” pays tribute to XXXTENTACION over a trap beat with somber piano chords & after the “BUSHY B” interlude, the equally long “YOO” is a pretty decent skit. The track “CAROLMART” talks about how fresh he is over a bouncy beat while the song “SHAKE 88” is an really cool Miami Bass booty anthem. Then after the “Blackland 66.6” skit, the closer “P.A.T.” with PlayThatBoyZay is a fighting anthem with a distorted Ronny J beat.

Despite being worried at first, this wasn’t bad as I feared. Could’ve been padded out with a few more tracks, but it’s a short but fun concept album about Zel’s hometown.

Score: 3.5/5

Denzel Curry – “TA13OO” review

Denzel Curry is a 23 year old MC from Carol City, Florida who came up as a member of SpaceGhostPurrp’s Raider Klan collective. I first caught wind of him in 2013 with his solid debut album Nostalgic 64, which he would follow up in 2016 with the modern day trap classic Imperial. He’s been laying quite low since then, dropping a EP last year called 13 & doing only a couple features. But now, he’s back on the scene with his 3rd full-length album.

Things start off with the titular track, which Denzel melodically uses as a metaphor for a woman who was molested at a young age over a psychedelic rock influenced instrumental from FNZ. The next song “13LACK 13ALLOONZ” with GoldLink sees the 2 talking about rising above negativity over a moody boom bap beat while the track “CAZH MAN1AC” triumphantly talks about his success over a nice synth funk instrumental. The track “ZUMO” brags about his pockets being bigger than WWE Hall of Famer, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion & 3-time WWE Tag Team Champion Rikishi over an gritty Charlie Heat instrumental while the song “ZUPER ZA1YAN ZUPERMAN” gets braggadocious over a eerie beat. The track “ZWITCH IT UP” is about Denzel’s lifestyle changes with him cleverly changing his flow throughout over a gritty trap beat from !llmind & Ronny J while the song “MAD 1 GOT 1T” talks to his haters over a gloomy trap beat.

The track “Z1RENZ” with J.I.D sees the 2 getting conscious over a mellow instrumental from DJ Dahi while the song “CLOUT CO13A1N” vents about suicide over a murky instrumental. The track “13LACKEZT 13ALLOON” vividly talks about wanting to connect mind to mind over a minimalist trap instrumental & an annoying hook while the song “PERCZ” is an jab at the misguided youth over an abrasive instrumental. The penultimate track “VENGEANCE” talks about just that over a bass-heavy instrumental & while I do enjoy the first 2 verses from Denzel & JPEGMAFIA respectively, ZillaKami’s doesn’t do anything for me. The closer “13.M.T. (13LACK METAL TERROR1ZT)” finishes it off perfectly by rapidly talking about killing this demon on his shoulder over an abrasive trap beat from Ronny J.

Overall, this is just as fantastic as his last album was. The concept is thought out almost perfectly, it’s well written, well executed & there are moments where Denzel gets more versatile from boom bap to neo-soul.

Score: 4.5/5