Written Before Listen
Denzel Curry has to be one of my favorite artists of today's generation. I love his incomparable energy, versatile delivery, and relatable subject matter. He also takes that to modern approaches using trendy production and doing it with such finesse. It's been some time since he released his last project ‘UNLOCKED’ but he’s stayed consistent nonetheless. I'm glad to see that he’s returned with a full-length project and let’s see where it takes us so without further ado, let’s get into it.
Production
Denzel Curry is well known for choosing some amazing production. Look at his previous EP “UNLOCKED” where every beat was cosmic, intergalactic, and adventurous. This time around, he continues with the adventurous and intergalactic sound, but with a variety of sounds, styles, and producers, From the hypnotic “Walkin”, to the nostalgic “Zatoichi”, The hard-knocking “Worst Comes To Worst” to the heavy-hitting “Sanjuro”. I think Denzel knows that hypnotic instrumentals are where he shines best. Look at Ta13OO, Look at some of the best tracks from Imperial, Denzel relies on atmosphere, and I'm glad he uses it to the best of his ability on this album.
Songwriting
Denzel is someone who I consider one of the best lyricists in recent hip hop. Except for Kendrick, I think no one is pushing conscious hip hop more than Denzel Curry. This time around, he accentuates his conscious knowledge. The song “Walkin” alone is a journey of a song and songs like “Mental”, “Troubles”, “Angelz” and “The Ills” follow a similar concept talking about validity and avoiding your vices. In the song “Worst Comes To Worst”, Denzel talks about spirituality over this heavy-hitting and psyched-out beat. The song “John Wayne” is Denzel’s song about police brutality and the allusion to John Wayne was something I'm surprised that hasn’t been done before, but I'm glad Denzel did because it turns out to be a great song. The song “The Last” is Denzel's pandemic song and in Denzel fashion, it's filled with double meanings and hidden messages that prevent the track from being corny. “X-Wing” is probably the lone motivational cut as Denzel finally looks around at the people that envy him and it turns out to be one of the more commercial-friendly tracks but luckily the beat hits hard enough to have its part on the album. As you can see, there is some slight variation, but this album is here because it's Denzel's exploration into mental health, and it’s done with good songwriting, variety, and much more.
Genre-Bending
Denzel is a man of many evolutions. On Nostalgic 64, Denzel took influences from Memphis hip hop, Imperial was more aggressive and upfront, TA13OO was Denzel being dynamic and experimenting with more mellow sounds but more aggression as well, ZUU was the ode to his hometown, but Melt My Eyes sees Denzel bringing the versatility out. There is a lot more soul in this project as some of the chord progressions are inspired by jazz and r&b. The songs “Mental” and “Angelz” are psyched out hip hop that takes the soul influence a little bit stronger than the other tracks. The song “The Smell Of Death” is produced by Thundercat, so you’re going to have complex chords and drum breaks that only appear on Thundercat tracks, and “Zatoichi” is inspired by DnB music from the 90s. I think Denzel is a rapper at heart and he still proves that on this record, but it’s not like he’s close-minded to try new things and this album shows that he can push his boundaries in different ways.
Features
Denzel isn’t one that’s pretentious enough to have no features on his album, but every feature on this does its job but it also doesn’t overshadow Denzel. There are some singing features like Buzzy Lee, 6LACK, and many more but let’s focus on the main features. We have the song “Troubles” which features T-Pain out of anyone and I got to say, it's a weird feature to see and it turns out to be one. He comes on, he does his job, but even for T-Pain, he comes and goes. We then have the enormous posse cut that features 6LACK, JID, Rico Nasty, and Jasiah. It sounds like it was about to be some immaculate trap metal banger but it's this anthemic and triumphant epic of a track with beat switches and great verses from everyone involved. On “Sanjuro”, we have 454 who is a rapper I haven’t heard of until listening to this album and his hook is perfect for the vibe of the track. He also doesn’t overshadow Denzel’s powerful flows and the hard-hitting beat behind it. There is then “Zatoichi” and slowthai does the hook. I won’t say that he should’ve done more or less but what he does is just perfect for what was needed. Overall, I think the features on this were near perfect, It’s not the most built-up team of artists, but it's what was needed for the gameplay.
Cons
I guess that there could’ve been a little more variety on the subject matter at some points, but at the same time, I think Denzel knows how to work with the topic of mental health. I think he stays relatable enough for you to listen to the lyrics, but he also stays listenable enough that his lyrics don’t distract you from the enjoyability of the music. I guess I can also say that there are some times where the songs kind of pass by at points but other than that, I can proudly say that this is Denzel's best work since TA13OO.
Verdict
Denzel knows how to create projects. It’s common knowledge to most people that Denzel Curry is one of the most consistent, energetic, and personality-filled rappers of recent times and I think this album might be the best example of that. Denzel has done it again.
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