Take some meaty
trap rap. Sprinkle in some crushed shrooms for that touch of psychedelia. Mix
until cloudy. Add some social consciousness to spice things up. Throw a couple
of addictively sweet hooks into the mix. Turn the anger and energy up to 100°C and leave to simmer. You have a Denzel Curry.
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| Bon Appetit |
I’ve been keenly following this
Floridian rapper’s career since he dropped his debut Nostalgia 64 – keeping a daily check on his Twitter feed, sitting
outside his house at night with binoculars – and it’s interesting to see how
the artist had refined his style. Whilst his debut was a mix of bangers and
psychadelia, his follow-up double-EP-semi-album-thing 32 Zel/Planet Shrooms saw him dividing the tracklist into one-half-trap,
one-half-trip. Now on his third album, he’s decided to fuse it all together,
every track a blend of hard-hitting 808s and woozy synths topped with Curry’s
most energetic spitting to date.
Lyrically, there’s something to appeal
to all breeds of hip hop head here. ‘ULT’ is a big boastful anthem with an
infectious singalong hook for the party rap fans, whilst ‘Narcotics’ is an attack
on racial profiling for the social observation lovers. Thankfully he’s retired
the weed worship that was on his previous albums. As someone who doesn’t smoke
the herb, stoner anthems do nothing for me. METH IS MORE MY THING.
Arguably, this may be Curry’s most
sonically-samey record to date. Almost every track sticks to the 808s-and-woozy-synths
formula instrumentally. Curry’s flows meanwhile are jammed in fifth gear,
relentlessly angry and stupendously fast. The constantly high energy of the
beats and flows is both impressive and utterly exhausting to listen to. Only do
the last two tracks allow a breather, the charmingly introspective ‘This Life’
and the vaguely jazzy ‘If Tomorrow’s Not Here’. The rapper redeems himself
somewhat, but I can’t help but feel a couple softer tracks earlier on might
have eased the pace. I’m not asking for a Celine Dion cover, just a few less
blue-in-the-face bangers.
That said, even if the album’s unyielding
energy is a little exhausting, it feels rewardingly so like a workout at the
gym as opposed to an exhausting day on the sofa. This seems like the
psychadelic trap rap album A$AP Rocky wanted to make. I can’t say its better
than Curry’s previous two albums, although it is certainly less messy. If
anything, Curry’s just keeping to the same consistently high standard as he
always has been, which is fine by me.
★★★★☆
TRACK TASTER: