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32 Zel/Planet Shrooms is a double EP that Denzel Curry released last year on June 6th. I’m not really sure what the purpose of this was. I don’t really know anything about this project. I’m just listening to it because it has Ultimate on it, and I enjoyed Imperial, so it seems like it’s probably gonna be pretty good. I’d definitely be more excited for this if it was just one EP. I don’t really wanna have to review two whole projects. I will tho. It’s basically the length of a regular album, so I guess it isn’t that bad. Anyway, I’m expecting this to be above average. I will be shocked if I end up disliking this project.

Track 1: 32 Ave Intro (Prod. Poshtronaut & Rem)

This is the first track from 32 Zel. Huh. This beat sounds a lot more West Coast than any of the shit on Imperial. It kinda sounds like something DJ Mustard would produce. It’s dope tho. I’m not blown away, but it’s a pretty good beat. Okay, that verse was dope. He’s just rappin’ about his city. “Face it, you get wasted like it’s GTA / But this ain’t no Grove Street and you ain’t CJ.” This was a pretty good way to open the project up. It’s just one short verse over a dope beat. I fuck with this song. This song is dope. 4/5

Track 2: Chief Forever (Prod. Rem)

The transition from the previous track to this one was really seamless. This beat is dope af. The hook isn’t bad. There was only one verse. It was dope tho. “3-2 Z-E-L / Piss off no R.Kel’s / Bitch I’m from the place where all the palm tress, and the AK’s swell.” His flow and delivery was cool. It wasn’t at the same level that it was on Imperial tho. He was rappin’ about some girl named Tiarra who was murdered near his city. The way the beat switched up at the end for the second recital of the hook was dope. I love the production on this track. The hook lasted a little too long, but other than that I fuck with this song. This is dope. 4/5

Track 3: Envy Me (Prod. Ronny J)

This track had a nice transition from the previous one too. This beat is cool. The hook could definitely be better. He’s singing with autotune. It just sounds kinda generic. Ohhh shit. He just had a fantastic reference to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. That show used to be my motherfuckin’ shit. “Wanna come and ice me like it’s New Jack City / Shit looking grim – no Mandy, Billy.” So far this whole project has a much more mainstream, commercial sound than Imperial. This track isn’t terrible, but I’m not really feelin’ it. The hook was wack. The verses were kinda cool, but they weren’t good enough to make this track worth keeping. It’s just okay to me. 3/5

Track 4: Ultimate (Prod. Ronny J)

Okay, this is what it was all for. This song is pure insanity. I love this song. I’m gonna be honest tho. I don’t actually think that the beat is that good. If it weren’t for Denzel’s insane flow & delivery, I wouldn’t like this song that much. The beat is underwhelming. It does it’s job of providing an energetic background for Denzel to slaughter tho. The hook is dope af. His flow is dope af on the first verse. Lyrically, this song isn’t that impressive. I like the Dragon Ball Z references tho. It’s just typical Hip Hop shit. He’s talking about how he’s the best and the most hardest gangsta and shit like that. I’m glad he switched his flow up for the second verse. “I kill ’em, no Kony, these niggas ain’t homies / Claim you the homie, I turn into Broly.” His delivery is insane. As I said in my review of Imperial, I love how he’s yelling so much that it sounds like he’s straining his voice. Lil Herb does that sometimes too. It’s so fuckin’ gangsta. I love how he called himself an Animorph. That’s so fuckin’ dumb, but it works since this song is so crazy. I definitely fuck with this shit. It’s absolutely dope af. This is the kinda shit that white people would mosh to. Unfortunately, there isn’t a full music video. The video above is just for the first minute and forty seconds of the song. It also seems to be an early, unmastered version of the song. The video itself isn’t that good. It’s not bad tho. It’s just a typical Trap inspired music video. The song is pure heat tho. 5/5

Track 5: Lord Vader Kush II (Prod. Smoko Ono)

I’m assuming that the first Lord Vader Kush song was on Nostalgic 64. Oh, nevermind. There isn’t a first Lord Vader Kush. The “II“ is part of Vader Kush’s name. This isn’t a sequel to an earlier song or anything. Lord Vader Kush II is the son of Lord Vader Kush Sr. It’s starting now. Okay, this beat uses the same sample as ‘Bout That Life by Dizzy Wright. I think I like Dizzy’s version more. I’m not really feelin’ this beat. The hook is average at best. His flow on the first verse was kinda cool. Other than that it wasn’t really doin’ much for me. I feel the same about the second verse too. His delivery wasn’t very exciting. I feel like if I was high I would probably love this. I’m not fuckin’ with this track tho. It’s wack to me. The only thing I liked about it was his flow. Everything else about it was wack to me. 2/5

Track 6: Ice Age Feat. Mike Dece (Prod. Keenanza, Yung Icey, Lino Martinez & Nick Leon)

I hope this song is as dope as its artwork… This hook is alright I guess. He’s singing in autotune, and it doesn’t sound very good. It’s not terrible tho. It’s tolerable. This beat is dope. What the fuck? This is fucking… This is so bad. Did I just listen to a verse about jizz? He mentioned himself bussin’ a nut about 5 or 6 times. “Jizz boss / Make her drink the cum sauce.” The first verse is fucking horrible. I’m not feelin’ the hook either. This whole EP is a lot more ignorant than anything that was on Imperial. This Mike Dece guy’s verse was arguably even worse than Denzel’s. His flow, delivery, and bars were all wack af. This is so bad. This is Trap music lyricism. I guess Denzel Curry could be considered a Trap artist, but he at least seemed to put more effort into his bars on Imperial. I hope Planet Shrooms is better than this bullshit. This is wack af. 1/5

Track 7: Delusional Shone Feat. Twelve’len (Prod. Nick Leon, Poshtronaut & Rem)

The beat is alright. For those of you who don’t know, “shone” is a slang word for women who have a lot of sex with random people. Denzel’s just rapping about… Actually, you know what? I have no fucking idea what he’s trying to rap about. There’s very little detail in the shit he’s saying. Everything’s very surface level. It sounds like he just met some random chick in the club, and was like “I wanna lay you down by the fire.” The content doesn’t interest me at all. The hook is terrible. He’s singing, and it sounds really, really bad. The way he’s talking to this girl is really patronizing. “We’ll just blame it on the fact that she just don’t know / It’s cool ’cause you are delusional / ‘Cause you know that we know that you are what you are / You’re a shone.” Twelve’len is on the next verse. Unfortunately, his singing is only slightly better than Denzel’s. I wasn’t feelin’ his verse. Nothing about this song is good. It’s so bad. It’s not quite dog shit, but it’s wack af. I wasn’t feelin’ the beat, the lyrics, the flows, the hook, the vocals… I wasn’t feelin’ anything about this song. It’s wack af to me. Oh shit… Wait… The beat switched up at the end… It… This new beat is dope. He’s not rapping or singing over it or anything. It’s just an instrumental. I guess it’s transitioning into Planet Shrooms. Okay, I can fuck with this part of the song. I like this last part. The rest of the song is wack af tho. Overall, I’ll just call this song wack. 2/5

Track 8: Past The Wudz Intro Feat. Big Rube (Prod. Rem & Poshtronaut)

This is the first track from Planet Shrooms. The previous track transitioned into this one really nicely. This beat is dope af. This track is much smoother and less ignorant than the shit from 32 Zel. I think I’m gonna enjoy Planet Shrooms a lot more. This production is fantastic. Denzel’s verse was dope. The way he was spittin’ sounded really poetic. “If Lucifer’s out there, are you after me too? / And if I’m not allowed into heaven, would you rapture my crew? / Snooze, catching Z’s look forgot to cop a plea / But as far as God goes, I would say that God’s deceased / Wait, I would say that God’s in me.” I fuck with this song. The production was great, and Denzel’s verse was dope too. Big Rube just had kind of a Spoken Word outro. This track is dope. 4/5

Track 9: Underwater (Prod. PXSH RAVEN & Lino Martinez)

This beat is alright. The first verse was average I guess. The shit he was saying wasn’t really that interesting to me. That effect he has on his voice is pretty annoying. His flow was kinda cool tho. The second verse was alright. That last verse was dope tho. I liked the way the beat switched up too. It’s just not enough for me to want to come back to this. I was bored up until the final verse. The beat didn’t really stick out at all. It’s just not that good of a song. It’s not really bad tho. It’s just average. 3/5

Track 10: Captain Sea Fonk (Prod. PXSH RAVEN & Lino Martinez)

This beat is dope af. I fuck with this hook. It’s a little longwinded, and the effects on his voice are a bit much, but I don’t mind it as much here as I did on the previous track. Hopefully he doesn’t keep the effects for his actual verses. Okay, he dropped the effects, but the actual verse… I guess it’s not bad… It’s just not very good. I was under the impression that Planet Shrooms would be the more introspective half of this double EP, but the lyrics on this track are just as ignorant as some of the tracks on 32 Zel. I’m still enjoying the song tho. The verses aren’t amazing, but sonically this is dope. I can tell just from listening to this shit that I’d like it a lot more if I was on drugs, but unfortunately I’m not. I still like this tho. It’s good. It’s not that good. It’s cool tho. I fuck with this. This is dope. 4/5

Track 11: Bwoii Feat. Nell & J.K. The Reaper (Prod. PXSH RAVEN & Lino Martinez)

I’m not feelin’ this beat. Denzel just went in. I wasn’t really feelin’ his verse. This just isn’t good. His verse was ignorant and juvenile. His flow was cool I guess, but it’s no better than anything that was on Imperial. I’m honestly amazed by how much better Imperial is than this whole tape. I’m not really feelin’ Nell’s verse either. Denzel Curry might as well have just spit that verse with a different inflection because their verses are pretty much equal in quality. I don’t even wanna finish the song anymore. I’ve already made up my mind. Denzel had another verse. It was a little better than his first verse. J.K. The Reaper sounds a lot like Juicy J. J.K. The Reaper is to Juicy J as Desiigner is to Future. I’m not feelin’ this shit. This song is wack. The beat was annoying as hell, and the bars just weren’t good. This is a bad song. 2/5

Track 12: Planet Shrooms Feat. J.K. The Reaper (Prod. PXSH RAVEN & Poshtronaut)

I’m not really feelin’ this beat. It’s kinda cool, but not really. The sporadic percussion really throws it off for me. It kinda grew on me a little bit during the first verse, but not enough for me to call it good. Speaking of the first verse, it was dope. When he isn’t rapping about jizzing, Denzel is a pretty decent rapper. I think J.K. The Reaper’s flow could’ve been a little better, but his voice sounds really good over this beat. Denzel’s second verse is dope. That Bone Thugs line was great. J.K. The Reaper sounded pretty good when he was rapping on the outro too. That might have something to do with the percussion dropping out tho. I almost fuck with the song. I’d probably like this beat if it weren’t for the jarring percussion. I enjoyed the verses, but it’s a challenge for me to say I really like this song as a whole. It’s alright. 3/5

Track 13: Smoke 2049 (Prod. PXSH RAVEN & Rem)

This beat is dope af. The hook kinda sucks. It’s not super terrible or anything. It’s just boring. It lasts way too long. I liked the first verse tho. Oh. There’s only one verse. The song just ended. Huh. I guess it’s dope. There isn’t really much going on. It’s just a great beat with a boring hook and a dope verse. I fuck with this song. It’s dope. 4/5

Track 14: Void Feat. Leonardo Safari & ForteBowie (Prod. PXSH RAVEN & Lino Martinez)

This beat is alright. The first verse from Denzel wasn’t bad. The hook’s okay. His second verse was fine. Nothing about this song stands out at all. I don’t know whose vocals those are on the outro, but they sound pretty good. This song just isn’t that good. The guest vocals on the outro are easily the best thing about this track. I enjoyed the last part, but the rest of this song is pretty boring. I don’t think I’d ever come back to this again. Also, y’all know I dislike electric guitars, so I REALLY wasn’t feeling that guitar solo at the end. This is okay. 3/5

Final Thoughts:

That was alright I guess. Honestly, I’d only recommend this project to hardcore Denzel Curry fans. Especially Planet Shrooms. I think Planet Shrooms was the more consistent project, but it wasn’t that good anyway, so it was kinda boring. 32 Zel was definitely wacker, but it was a more interesting listening experience for me personally. The production and overall sound was a lot more diverse. The songs that I wasn’t feelin’ on 32 Zel were actually bad tho… The ones that I didn’t like on Planet Shrooms weren’t bad. They just weren’t good. When Planet Shrooms first started, I thought that it would be the more lyrical, introspective half of this package. It was only slightly better tho. The subject matter didn’t really change. Honestly, I don’t think there’s much of a difference between these two EPs. This could just be one whole album. I mean, they do have two different sounds, but they aren’t that drastic. I could hear the change happening as soon as I got to track 2. The overall sound gets trippier as the music progresses. It just devolves from a decent selection of Trap music into a hollow Cloud Rap project. If you’re a drug addict, you might like this. I feel like if I was on ecstasy, or acid, or shrooms I would probably like this more. It’s just not that good tho. I’m amazed by how much more I enjoyed Imperial. I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of confusion when I listen to this project. Drugheads should check it out. I’m not really feelin’ it like that tho. I don’t like Cloud Rap that much. Denzel just wasn’t rapping that well on this one. Ultimate was dope af tho. That’s really the only song that I can recommend to everyone. I doubt everyone will like it, but I think it’s much more accessible than any of the other tracks here. Overall, this project is alright. I kinda feel like I wasted my time, but I did get a few tracks outta this, so it’s okay I guess.

Favorite Song (32 Zel): Ultimate

Least Favorite Song (32 Zel): Ice Age

Verdict (32 Zel):

60%

Favorite Song (Planet Shrooms): Smoke 2049

Least Favorite Song (Planet Shrooms): Bwoii

Verdict (Planet Shrooms):

65%

Favorite Song (Overall): Ultimate

Least Favorite Song (Overall): Ice Age

Verdict (Overall):

62%

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