With all the artists worldwide, it’s easy to slip under the radar of the monstrous sea of artists. Especially when the artist is not typically one to top the billboard charts or have radio play, and nobody else identifies with this idea better than Denzel Curry.
South Florida native and rapper Curry has released music since the early 2010s, releasing his first mixtape when he was only 16. He first began to garner attention for his sophomore album, “Imperial.” His follow-up, “TA1300,” quickly became his most critically acclaimed album. “TA1300” discusses critiques of the music industry and showcases his frustration with being unable to speak about what he considers “taboo” topics in the music industry.
One of Curry’s most identifying features is his willingness to constantly switch up the atmosphere and feeling from album to album. His last release, “Melt My Eyez See Your Future,” focused on introspection and self-improvement. His newest release, “King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2,” released July 19, strays far from introspection and revelation.
With the album’s runtime only being a short 34 minutes it could be easy to brush it off, thinking it might not be worth listening to. Nonetheless, the project is going for a more distinct theme instead of leaning into a more fun-filled song that will make listeners bop their heads and simply have fun, instead of being introspective.
In the song “Black Flag Freestyle,“ Curry says, “But now I had to dumb it down.“ From this line, it’s easy to tell the album is going for a much less reflective theme; after such a profoundly introspective album and from his desire to switch the sound up every album, Curry opts for a much harder-hitting banger feel and pays homage to his roots. He additionally takes heavy inspiration from Memphis rap, such as members from the Three 6 Mafia.
The Memphis rap sound cultivated by the Three 6 Mafia consists of grimy, almost “dirty-feeling” production throughout KOTMSV2. Songs such as “Ultra Shxt“ sample 2 Low Key’s “On that Devil *hit,” who is known as a massive contributor to the Memphis rap sound, as well as “Hit The Floor,” which showcases a beat that’s nearly impossible to describe without listening to it.
Additionally, Curry brings a star-studded feature list featuring artists on every song on the project, Juicy J, Project Pat, and the aforementioned Kingpin Skinny Pimp, underground legends of Memphis Rap. Curry also brings several high-profile artists onto this project, including 2 Chainz, A$AP Ferg, Ski Mask the Slump God, and A$AP Rocky. Many smaller and unknown artists, such as Tia Corine, PlayThatBoiZay, and Key Nyata, are included to help give them the exposure these artists deserve.
The features, combined with many of the creative and hard-hitting homages packed into the album, give the listener an enjoyable listen no matter what. Senior Malcolm Hummel described his thoughts on the features.
“I think that that ‘Mexican OT’ brought a very unique style of rapping brought a lot to the song, I thought the ‘R’ rolling brought a lot to the song feeling,” Hummel said.
Additionally, senior Chase Bayly also enjoyed every song from the album.
“Although the songs were not introspective, the album had a happy feeling and I had fun with it,” Bayly said. “[It] could be one of the top 3 albums so far this year, or if not the best one all year.”
Altogether, even if critics haven’t given this album the flowers it deserves, sitting at a composite score of 71 across many different review sites, it remains one of the year’s most endearing and easily replayable albums and contains many great features from artists of all stages in their careers. Curry successfully switches up his style again, paying homage to the sounds that inspired him while creating a concise album with fantastic music that is a favorite for many.
