‘KING OF THE MISCHIEVOUS SOUTH’ by Denzel Curry - Album Review

One of the industry’s most consistent rappers strikes again with one of his funnest projects to date.

★★★★¼

Now, although this is just the finished version of his mixtape of a similar title released earlier in the year, I specifically waited to listen until the full version was released. Regardless of that admin, this album is such a joy to listen to. It is a sequel to his mixtape of the same name released in 2012, and by listening you can feel the influence of that time frame in every track on here. 

Denzel is known to experiment artistically in his music, and it is always amazingly executed. ‘TA13OO’ is an in depth attack at the rap game whilst at the same time a look into his tortured up-bringing, portrayed through three distinct sections which display different sounds that Denzel can work with. Whereas his most recent effort ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’ is a more vulnerable and introspective record. Within all this experimentation artistically, Denzel always makes his way back to his roots of making albums full of energetic bangers. 2019’s ‘ZUU’ was a tribute to the stylistic evolution of Miami rap over the years and his sophomore effort ‘Imperial’, whilst also being fairly introspective in its own right, is also packed with some of his hardest hitting tracks. 

The production across this tape is quite standard. It majorly follows the same formula of rolling snare patterns, punchy 808s and sometimes harsh but other times super airy synth riffs, however this really works for what the project is going for. Denzel was not looking to create an artistic masterpiece with this one, his artistic vision was clearly to recreate the sound of mixtapes from the ‘blog rap’ and even soundcloud eras. The production formula is very simple but incredibly effective for the style he’s going for. It creates the perfect base layer for Denzel’s unrivalled energy and eclectic flows. Now granted, the album is not entirely made-up of these banger-type beats. The opener ‘Ultra Shxt’ reflects the more cloud rap style, akin to an early A$AP Rocky instrumental. One of the tracks added to the finalised album ‘Got Me Geeked’ provides some light, melodic synths, making for a more laid back track. And ‘P.O.P’ shows Denzel flowing over a wonderful piano melody.

Denzel himself is, as usual, on top form with this one. He doesn’t take any narrative risks, he just goes out there and does what he does best; pure rapping. Denzel has one of the best flows in the whole industry, he knows exactly how to work around every beat he selects, perfectly fitting his flow into every pocket. Whether it’s him perfectly weaving in and out of the snappy snares of ‘Sked’, his very stop-start flow to complement the strings backing on ‘Set It’ or boastfully skating across the triumphant horns of ‘Still In The Paint’, it’s always done with absolute precision.

Denzel provided us with one of the most entertaining projects of the entire year. There may not be as much stylistic variety as an ‘Imperial’ or deep-rooted self-reflection as ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’, however what it does have is 15 tracks of that high energy, southern charm which Denzel portrays to a tee.