This album was released for free this year on March 11th. I’ve known of Denzel Curry for a few years, but I’d never actually listened to any of his shit until about 2 weeks ago. Somebody queued the song Ultimate up in a dubtrack room that I was in, and I was like “wow.” Since that’s the only song I’ve ever heard by him, I know pretty much nothing about him, so I’m really going into this blind. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to review his shit, but somebody requested it, so I’m just gonna go ahead and give it a shot. I’m also probably gonna check out that double EP that he dropped last year if I feel like it. I don’t know for sure tho.

Track 1: ULT (Prod. Ronny J, Nick Leon & Finatik N Zac)

Wow. This beat is really fuckin’ dope. His flow on here is dope af. He has a really aggressive delivery. I love it when rappers scream so much that it sounds like they’re straining their voices. I think I would try to spit like that if I was a rapper. This beat is really smooth. It has kind of a dreamy aesthetic. Denzel Curry isn’t the craziest lyricist out there, but he’s got some dope lines. “Snake in the grass, cut the copperhead / Hollow tips point at a copper head / Drop a head; popping the glock ’til the copper dead.” The first verse was dope. I feel like I would like this hook more if the singing was better, but I still enjoyed it. The melody itself is very catchy. His flow on the second verse is dope af. I fuck with this shit. The beat is dope af, the hook is catchy, and Denzel’s delivery & flow on the verses are great. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 2: Gook (Prod. Ronny J, Finatik N Zac & Lino Martinez)

What the fuck? Isn’t gook a racial slur for Indians? Okay, I just looked it up; it’s actually a derogatory term for people of Korean descent. Why the fuck is this song called Gook? Maybe Denzel Curry is mixed or something. I don’t know. I always hate it when people put offensive slurs in their song titles. It’s starting now. Jesus. This beat is dope af. Oh shitfuck. His flow on this bitch is great. This song is just as racist as I thought it would be… Apparently people call themselves gooks when they’re really high because the weed makes them squint their eyes. Wow. He starts the song off by saying “I’m a gook.” I think I’m starting to hate potheads. Y’all weren’t comfortable with the 666 other ways to say “I’m high?” Fuck you. Needless to say, his use of the racial slur is uncalled for and in bad taste. Lyrically, this song isn’t really doing anything for me at all. He’s just rapping about weed. Songs like this don’t interest me. His flow is crazy tho. The beat is dope af too. The hook’s alright. I kinda liked that shot that he threw at SpaceGhostPurrp. He’s been beefing with him recently. I don’t know any of the details. I just know that they don’t fuck with each other anymore. “I don’t fuck with purp, that’s the only reason Yams died.” I wasn’t really feelin’ the background vocals during the hook. This track started out cool—aside from the racial slur—but it honestly gets pretty old by the time the track is finished. I don’t think it’s that bad, but I personally don’t really fuck with it. It’s alright. 3/5

Track 3: Sick & Tired (Prod. Ronny J & Finatik N Zac)

This track opens up with a long ass, unnecessary skit. The beat is dope af tho. His flow is pretty good too. He’s rappin’ about bein’ stuck in the hood and shit. I enjoyed the first verse. The hook is kinda cool. I wish the actual singing was better, but I enjoyed it. The second verse was dope af. This shit is gangsta af. I think the hook could’ve been better, and I wish that skit wasn’t there at the beginning, but other than that I fuck with this shit. The beat, delivery, & flow are all on point. 4/5

Track 4: Knotty Head Feat. Rick Ross (Prod. Finatik N Zac & Ronny J)

This beat is alright. The first verse from Denzel was cool I guess. I wasn’t really that blown away. I think his style is starting to get old for me. The hook isn’t bad. It does it’s job. The second verse isn’t really any better than the first. Rick Ross just ended the song with his verse. I wasn’t feelin’ it. His lazy flow and delivery just sucked all the energy out of this track. I don’t think him and Denzel’s styles mesh very well together. I’m not really feelin’ this song. The first two verses are average, and the beat didn’t really do shit for me either. Pretty much everything about this track is average. It doesn’t really get bad until Rick Ross comes in. This is wack to me. 2/5

Track 5: Narcotics (Prod. $uicide Boy$ & Lino Martinez)

This beat is dope af. The arpeggiators sound kinda cheap at first, but once the bass comes in it gets a lot better. The hook is dope af too. “Why these crackers thinking that a nigga sell narcotics? / Just because I’m living doesn’t mean a nigga got it.” The first verse was cool. His flow was dope. This shit is so hard. His flow on the second verse was great. It’s just another dope ass, high energy song from Denzel Curry. The flow, beat, and hook are all great. I definitely fuck with this shit. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 6: Story: No Title (Prod. Promnite & Lino Martinez)

This beat is cool I guess. Once the bass comes in it gets a lot better. The first verse was alright. I don’t know about this hook. It’s not really bad. It’s just not nearly as entertaining as most of the other ones. It’s kinda boring. The second verse was cool. That third verse was really dope tho. His flow was dope af. I was still kinda bored listening to this song. I’m getting tired of his loud delivery. The beat was alright, but not really. It was kinda boring. His flow was great, and he had some cool lines here and there, but for the most part this song didn’t really do anything for me. It’s okay. 3/5

Track 7: Pure Enough (Prod. Ronny J & Finatik N Zac)

This beat is pretty chill. Denzel’s screaming his ass off tho. Damn. This beat is dope af. I fuck with the hook. I could’ve done without the background vocals, but it’s not that bad. This is easily the most introspective track on the album so far. “February sixteenth is the day I regret my birth / Most times I thought about ending when I came into this Earth.” This is dope. The second verse was dope af. It’s kind of all over the place lyrically, but I fuck with this song. “February fourteenth is just the day to repopulate / I never have no love south side of the Florida state.” I wasn’t in love with his delivery on the hook, but it grew on me pretty quickly. I fuck with this shit. This is dope. 4/5

Track 8: This Life (Prod. Ronny J & Finatik N Zac)

Oh God. The transition from the beat’s intro to the hook just sounded really disjointed. It’s fine now tho. The hook itself is alright. This beat is dope af. I guess this is supposed to be the love song for this project. I’m not really feelin’ it. The production is great, but other than that I can’t get into this. I’m not feelin’ his vocals on the hook. These bars are pretty sappy too. “If I couldn’t shed a tear, girl, would you cry for me? / And if we was a couple doves, girl, would you fly with me?” He’s not using that crazy aggressive delivery where he’s yelling, but he still sounds loud. I feel like he’s the type of person that’s always yelling involuntarily. He seems like that one guy who’s always talking way too loudly without knowing it, and you have to tell him to shut the motherfuck up. This isn’t for me. I’m not feelin’ his melodic delivery, or the actual content of this track. This is wack. The beat was hot tho. 2/5

Track 9: Zenith Feat. Joey Bada$$ (Prod. Ronny J, Finatik N Zac & Freebase)

Oh fuckin’ shit. This beat is crazy. Denzel’s goin’ in on the first verse. God damn. This fucking production is amazing. The first verse was dope. Denzel’s flow was nice. This hook is fucking fantastic. This is so dope. I love the scratches on the hook. Joey’s goin’ in now. He killed it. This is crazy. This is so fucking good. This production is incredible. The hook is dope af, and both MCs had great verses. I definitely fuck with this shit. This song is absolutely dope af. This is amazing. 5/5

Track 10: If Tomorrow’s Not Here Feat. Twelve’len (Prod. Steve Lacy)

Alright, I will be shocked if this track is better than the previous one. I just noticed that I’ve only liked every other song on this project. That’s kinda weird. Kinda… Anyway, this beat is dope. Oh this is pretty cool. He’s rapping about fear from the perspective of a prisoner. “The guard came in the other day, and gave me some mail, and said that I got a phone call / When I get out we gon’ go harder than Medusa, building stone walls out of human flesh.” Twelve’len is singin’ the hook. It’s pretty dope. This is probably the most laid back track on the whole album sonically. “Been afraid of something that is out of my control / Like a verse from Duckworth make a silly rapper’s butt hurt.” Denzel’s really spittin’ on this shit. This is probably the best song on the album lyrically. He dedicated this song to his friends in jail…

This song great. It’s definitely the most interesting song on the whole album in terms of content, and the beat is really dope. This was a pretty good way to end the album. I definitely fuck with this shit. This is dope af. 5/5

Final Thoughts:

This album is dope. The production was really good for the most part. A lot of people will probably start to get a little tired of his insanely aggressive & explosive delivery towards the middle of the album, but he thankfully tones it down a little bit near the end. He’s not super introspective, but I think it’d be fair to call this Trap music—at least in terms of it’s sound—and he’s definitely the most lyrical MC out of any Trap artist I’ve ever heard personally. He has a lot of dope lines. Also, I didn’t mention this while I was talking about any of the songs in particular, but he has a lot of dope references to nerdy pop culture. There was a line about two of the characters from the Kill Bill series, and a line about Ren & Stimpy, and… Is Ren & Stimpy nerdy? I guess the references to shit like that are to be expected from somebody who named his first album—Nostalgic 64—after an old video game console. Unlike most Trap artists, you can tell that Denzel actually tries to write dope shit. I guess for comparison, I’d say that he’s on par with, if not slightly better than A$AP Rocky. They’re two very different artists, but I’d say I get the same level of enjoyment from both of their lyrics. Actually, Denzel Curry is definitely better than him lyrically. That’s just what I think tho. The album was dope. This is the first project I’ve ever heard from Denzel Curry, and, like I said, I’m probably gonna check out the double EP that he dropped last year soon, so I guess y’all can be on the lookout for that. I fuck with this album. This album is dope to me.

Favorite Song: Zenith

Least Favorite Song: This Life

Verdict:

76%

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