Album of the Year #35: Denzel Curry - TA13OO - HipHop | HipHop Channel

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Album of the Year #35: Denzel Curry - TA13OO - HipHop

Album of the Year #35: Denzel Curry - TA13OO - HipHop

Album of the Year #35: Denzel Curry - TA13OO

Posted: 06 Jan 2019 10:00 AM PST

Artist: Denzel Curry

Album: TA13OO

Listen:

YouTube

Spotify

Appple Music

Background

Carol City, Florida's Denzel Curry started his musical career in 2011 at the age of 16, eventually being introduced to would-be-legendary Miami rapper/producer SpaceGhostPurrp through a mutual friend. (The mutual friend in question would, surprisingly enough, be Mike Dece, but we don't talk about him.) He put out a handful of mixtapes, earning an early co-sign from L.A.'s Odd Future, back when OF and Raider Klan were in their primes, which is to say before SGP went nuts and said "fuck everyone." After leaving Raider Klan, Curry dropped his first album Nostalgic 64 in 2013, which could easily be a modern classic if some of the production had aged a little better, and 2016's Imperial, which wasn't quite as experimental or versatile as its predecessor, but was still a very worthy follow-up.

Meanwhile, his biggest hit single, the relentless, psychedelic "Ultimate" off of his double EP 32 Zel/Planet Shrooms, became a fixture of Internet memes, and that seemed to be unfortunately where his legacy was headed. During this time, he also had the first verse in the legendary XXL Freshman 2016 Cypher, but audiences seemed to be much more focused on the new-wave SoundCloud rappers that showed up later in the video. Curry didn't quite fit the narrative of either the gatekeepers who hated all these new "MuMbLe rApPeRs" or the young hypebeasts who helped vote old-head hate figure Lil Yachty into the 10th Spot.

Since day one, Curry has occupied the same invaluable position in the rap landscape: a deft MC with endless energy, sharp lyricism, and a propensity towards adventurous, hard-hitting trap production to underscore his fireball performances. He stands in the exact crossroads between the skillful writing and delivery that old heads claim is missing in today's rap, and the innovation and raw energy that many younger fans love about today's trap music. Unfortunately, he has spent the vast majority of his career in the shadows, being a semi-regular fixture of "most underrated rapper" discussions, while the majority of even die-hard hip hop heads were barely familiar with him. But all of that is finally coming to an end, with his third album, released in July 2018, becoming a very regular talking point when discussing the best rap albums (or any albums, really) of 2018. Welcome to TA13OO.

Review

TA13OO stands alone in an era when music, especially rap, is so obsessed with keeping precise files on which subgenres are which. Denzel Curry viciously mocks the SoundCloud rappers that he helped pave the way for on "Percs," with a heavily distorted lo-fi beat and aggressive delivery that reminds the new wave rappers in question where they came from. When he says, "get it straight, I innovate, you ad-libs on an 808," it seems ironic because the song is laced with subtle ad-libs and a buzzing 808 bassline, but the implied subtext is that it was the innovations of at least a dozen underground trendsetters, including himself, that led to the very same young rappers he is taking aim at finding their style.

However, this is just one song; his overall attitude towards the new wave is demonstrated as much more accepting and even compassionate, but also cautionary: he gives us a not-so-friendly reminder that "ain't shit changed since Lil Peep died" on "The Blackest Balloon," but also interpolates many of SoundCloud rap's stylistic tics (beyond merely the production) throughout TA13OO, evident on songs from the breathless, braggadocious "Super Saiyan Superman" to the catchy, melodic hit single "Clout Cobain." This spells out what I believe is most important thing about TA13OO, beyond just its lyricism or production or even its unique structure: it is SoundCloud rap on a higher level.

Now that I have mentioned its "unique structure" in passing, I do think I should elaborate more on that, though. TA13OO is split into three acts: the Light, the Grey, and the Dark. They were released one day at a time from Wednesday through Friday of its release. I personally think this was a bad idea for an album rollout for the sole reason that it had to have subtracted from first-week sales, and it definitely deserved to chart higher than #28 on the Billboard albums chart in its opening week. That being said, he has never had an album chart on any charts in any country before, so we've all got to start somewhere, right? Releasing each act individually may not have been the best of ideas, but the actual concept behind the three acts themselves is incredibly well thought-out.

TA13OO begins with "Act I: Light," which definitely showcases a softer, more thoughtful side of Denzel Curry than any other part of the album. Despite the fact that the album ends with "Act III: Dark," the song "Taboo" kicks off "Act I: Light" with the line "welcome to the darker side of taboo" being the first line of lyrics on the album. It's confusing at first, but it all makes sense. The explanation for the line isn't even all that complex; it can be concisely summarized by saying that even when "taboo" is light, it's still pretty dark. Take that statement however you will. The song tells the tale of Curry's relationship with a girl, also named "Taboo," who is still coping with being molested as a child. There are a handful of potentially inappropriate lines, most notably "Curry killed the pussy hoping that I can kill the hate in you," but it's easy to overlook given the earnestness in his words and his voice when he says "even if it's too late for me, forever I will wait for you." The moment is made even more poignant, given that, on a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne tha God goaded Curry into admitting that the song was based on he himself being molested as a child, continuing to pester him with details even as he made it very clear that he did not want to talk about it anymore.

Appropriately, this is by far the most "taboo" subject addressed on the album, and after the deceptively funky, GoldLink-supported "Black Balloons," the section ends with the two most light-hearted songs on the record. The West Coast-influenced "Cash Maniac" is the album's closest thing to a real misstep, but one could argue that it does have its place. The electrifying trap banger "Sumo" seems out of place given the retro vibe of every other song in the act, but it does set the sonic blueprint for many of the songs to come, and that's not to say it doesn't belong. It was supposed to feature Broward County's motor-mouthed oddball Ski Mask the Slump God, whom Curry has previously collaborated with, and the mutual influence between the two is apparent. The pure ignorant bliss when Curry roars "why these niggas lookin' at me sour? Choppa eat a nigga like Chowder; rada-rada-rada-rada-rada!" is much "lighter" than the album will ever be again, with the chorus of "Mad I Got It" being the closest thing to an exception, but that will come up again later.

"Act II: Grey" is my personal favourite act, and it's probably the most pivotal in the album's structure. "Super Saiyan Superman" picks up where "Sumo" leaves off, but with a much more focused delivery than the reckless abandon of "Sumo." However, the point I mentioned earlier about TA13OO being "SoundCloud rap on a higher level" does not truly prove itself until the relentlessly consistent stream of songs that pours in afterwards. Influential producer Ronny J collaborates with !llmind on "Switch It Up," having previously produced two of the most famous singles in Curry's catalogue thus far: "Threatz" and the aforementioned "Ultimate." The beat sounds like a transcended form of the type of beats Ronny has been producing for South Florida mainstays, such as Lil Pump and the late XXXTENTACION, in recent memory. Over this production, Curry uses duality to address his come-up as well as the questionable loyalty of himself and others: "That nigga lost, he in the lead, switch it up / I'ma get money, by any means, run it up."

On the melodic follow-up "Mad I Got It," Curry sings with a seemingly positive tone: "You was glad when I never had shit, but mad I got it," exuding no shortage of confidence and pride in his accomplishments, while also acknowledging those who take advantage of his newfound success. Later on, the beat switches, and so does his perspective: the rest of the song is delivered from the standpoint of an envious criminal, who knows damn well that "life not sweet like 'suit' with an 'E'," and is all too willing to "stick a nigga up, 'cause I'm mad he got it." This track gives a solid outline of Curry's abilities as a storyteller. The next song "Sirens" is a political cut, and while Denzel's observations of "Donald Trump, Donald Duck, what the fuck is the difference?" are somewhat tiresome, his harmony with teenage misery queen Billie Eilish in the poppy but ominous chorus, and the the haunting, noisy but eerily calm production from Kendrick Lamar collaborator DJ Dahi more than makes up for his slight shortcomings. Also, according to Curry, he re-wrote both of his own verses on "Sirens" from scratch once J.I.D's monster of a feature had been recorded, with the Dreamville signee dropping off what is probably the best verse on the whole album. The act ends with "Clout Cobain," which was accompanied by a smash hit music video that currently sits at more than 47 million views on YouTube, and expands on the rock-influenced melodies and maudlin tone set by many popular "emo rappers" such as Lil Peep, Juice WRLD and Trippie Redd, covering similar themes as "Switch It Up," but also more clearly addressing the state of the music industry: "I need hella bass, I need hella pain / You gon' wanna cry, I'ma make it rain."

TA13OO culminates in "Act III: Dark," which is nothing but bangers in the vein of so-called "trap metal" artists such as $uicideboy$, Ghostemane and ZillaKami, who is actually featured here. It starts off with "The Blackest Balloon," where Curry creates a pretty haunting atmosphere, leaving plenty of here-and-gone open spaces between his lines, underscored by chilling ad-libs and minimalistic trap production. He picks up his flow a little bit towards the end, sounding more like the Denzel Curry we're all used to. Then the album transitions into "Percs," which I've already written a fair share about, so I won't go too much into it again, other than it's loud, it's distorted, it bangs, blah, blah, blah, I won't say anything about it that I haven't already said. Besides, I need the extra space to write about "Vengeance."

Holy fucking shit, "Vengeance." It probably makes whatever you thought was the hardest song of the year look like that "I Love You" song that creepy purple dinosaur sang right before he ate a bunch of innocent children. Curry distorts his voice in the repetitive chorus to echo the Memphis samples that Raider Klan used to utilize all the time, and continues to hearken back to the Raiders' glory days by lifting a number of his verse lyrics from older songs that he had featured on back in the day. Despite this, or maybe because of this, it's definitely at least one of Curry's top 5 verses on the entire album, but then it turns out to be the weakest verse on the song. Baltimore noise-rap troll JPEGMAFIA comes on, slows down the flow but doubles down on the aggression, and his lyrics are peppered with very clever references to boot, including a mocking namecheck of 6ix9ine, which will come in handy as the song progresses, as it turns out the aforementioned ZillaKami feature (ZillaKami having an established feud with 6ix9ine) in this section is still the same song that just gave us that JPEGMAFIA verse. Zilla brings his insane, high-octane hardcore punk/rap hybrid along to incredible effect. His demonic voice shrieks and growls through surprisingly catchy flows: "No nigga can take my soul / Drop dead, them heads will roll / We'll drop the corpse in the cold / Wardog, I'll stick to the code," and then the song ends with a calm, soulful outro sung by co-producer Mickey de Grand IV. Here we are, having just listened to one of the hardest songs of all time and now we're being serenaded by our future killer with sampled soul harmonies and fucking trumpets?

Oh, what's that? You thought the album was gonna end on a gentle note? Nope! The last song "Black Metal Terrorist" has probably Curry's harshest screaming to date in any of his verses, and at this point he's not even trying to address any important subjects anymore. It's just pure hatred and violence and mass destruction at this point, and the album ends with a bitcrushed voice death-growling "send them to hell!" as the already relentless beat devolves into pure chaos until it finally concludes with the same static and pure noise that showed up for a brief moment at the very beginning of the first track of the album.

It's the highest-rated album to ever be classified as "trap rap" on Rate Your Music. and it scored an 85 on Metacritic. Besides these specific examples, TA13OO has been a regular fixture of "album of the year" discussions for rap fans, and for music fans in general. For whatever any of these statements are worth, as of the time this was written, TA13OO is barely five months old, and it has already clearly made a mark. It has earned people's attention. It has earned immense acclaim. It is SoundCloud rap on a higher level. It is trap music on a higher level. Put it simply: Zel finished 'em.

Favourite Lyrics

"Shoot shit, Cole Bennett, rap game, don't get it / With these dumbass niggas, and they don't say shit / Sound like "durr, durr, durr," you like, "oh, that's lit" / With yo' boof ass hits, "I'ma fuck yo' bitch / I just popped two Xans," nigga, fuck that shit!" - Denzel Curry on "PERCS | PERCZ"

"Made it past 25, I'm set, bitch, let me die / Bet you respect me when I check in with that .45 / Slide, ride, this a homicide / Pull up to the side, let that man retire / I ain't Drake, this ain't 6ix, issa 9ine, sticky, blicky, iron" - JPEGMAFIA on "VENGEANCE | VENGEANCE"

"To be or not to be? Hamlet I'm lit / If it ain't homicide, I don't commit / Y'all throw a fit when you don't got a fit / If you put out a hit, bet you the killer ain't gon' make a cent" - Denzel Curry on "SWITCH IT UP | ZW1TCH 1T UP"

"Oh say, can you see a hundred dead bodies in the street / By the dawn's early light, double Sprite and a R.I.P. tee / So proudly, lights gleam, let the gun blaow in the night time / Of the slum house, little drum bump with the one thousand / Come, come, here they come" - J.I.D on "SIRENS | Z1RENZ"

"Welcome to the darker side of taboo / All I've got is permanent scars and tattoos / Take another step in the path that you choose / Make a bad choice in your path then you lose" - Denzel Curry on "TABOO | TA13OO"

Talking Points

  • What are your thoughts on this album? Did you think it was great? You think it was dog shit? You think it was somewhere in between?

  • With the acclaim that TA13OO has received in lots of music circles, do you think the point of Denzel Curry being "underrated" or "slept on" still stands? Do you think this is at least the first step towards Curry achieving the wide recognition he deserves?

  • Do you think TA13OO is going to end up being a rap milestone? Or will it fade into the background as time passes? How influential or important do you think it will be? Why or why not?

  • Do you think TA13OO is at least an important album for "SoundCloud rap" or new-wave trap? If not, what would you say is?

  • How does TA13OO compare with his previous output? How has Curry changed over time? Has he improved or gotten worse?

  • What do you think is next for Denzel Curry? Did he just reach his peak after a few years of making noise in the underground, or is this just the beginning of something greater? If so, what do you think is in store for Curry that could potentially top this? If not, how long do you think it will take for him to fall off?

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Sunday General Discussion - January 6th, 2019

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submitted by /u/TheHHHRobot
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Screenshots here: https://imgur.com/a/xuYIUt9

An old tweet that's being brought up in light of the allegations: https://i.imgur.com/UnxvIur.jpg

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