Beside the Music : Denzel Curry

Denzel Curry does not hide behind a stage name, the world is his stage. In this members only segment we will explore Denzel Curry's discography and the music that he has brought to the world since roughly 2011. If you are not a subscriber, sign up for a free membership to access the rest of this post as we go Beside the Music and explore the collection of art from the Miami native, Denzel Curry.

Denzel Curry

Powered by found.ee

Found.ee

Around the time of Denzel's King Remembered drop in 2011, there was a resurgence of groups and collectives in hip-hop like we had not seen in some time. Two groups I gravitated to around that time were A$AP and the Raider Klan. Of course there were others like Odd Future, etc but we will keep this on the East Coast for now. While A$AP may have become more of a household name, my personal preference leaned more Raider Klan.

Don't get me wrong, I respect what A$AP was creating, but when I heard a rapper by the name of Nell do a track with Pouya called "Shotz From the Double Glock" it helped me understand that the hip-hop scene down in Florida was something to keep an eye on.

Like all groups/collectives, there are standouts, and Denzel Curry quickly emerged as someone to watch within Raider Klan. I still listen to Pouya and some that put out music today, but Denzel Curry grabbed my attention and quickly became someone I knew I wanted to follow and watch his rise to the individualistic star that he is today.

As a debut project, it was the vibrant beat selection that caught my attention. Then as the project went on, it became clear to me that Denzel had something that artists that make it big all share.. a sense of self and a personality to match.

With this debut entry into his musical career, it was clear he was someone to keep an eye on and I was excited for his next project.

When I heard the lead single "Threatz" feat Yung Simmie and Robb Bank$ I knew one thing, Denzel had found his voice. Sure he had plenty of other great songs on his debut mixtape, but this lead single from this debut album was a homecoming.

At just 18 years of age, Denzel was solo and had launched his debut album. Raider Klan was no longer as active as a whole and though many artists from the group would go on to have their own amounts of success, it was Denzel Curry that was starting down his path to greatness.

Nostalgic 64 in name alone was perfect to me. As a 90s baby, the name resonated, then you add in an Aquemini-inspired album cover and I knew the world was in for a treat.. and Denzel delivered.

The production quality rose dramatically, but the thing that stood out to me was the completeness of each song. Denzel was not just making songs anymore, he was an artist now, putting together full themes and building his brand further with each track.

Released in 2015 and featuring only 7 tracks, "32 Zel" might not get as much love as many of his projects, but I feel this project was something for fans to chew into before the release of Imperial the next year.

This album's stand out track "Ultimate (feat. Juicy J)" might be more well known but personally, "Envy Me" was my favorite.

This project was remastered in 2017 with recorded vocals that now appear on versions found on streaming services. If you listen to this project on most major streaming services you will only get tracks 1-7. Soundcloud is one of the only places to listen to this project in its entirety.

It's hard to pick a favorite album of Denzel's but this one might be it for me. 2016 was a great year for Denzel. I might catch some flack for this, but I am going to stick my neck out and say that for my taste, he had the best verse in the 2016 XXL Freshmen Cypher.

Regardless of how you might view his freestyle, it was his Imperial album that carried 2016 for Denzel. The album was so well put together from the sound to the love shown to everything Denzel was that I feel that it stands out today as still one of his best.

You take a track like "Knotty Head" that features Rick Ross and you find a Denzel that, despite the star power of Ross, holds his own and does not let himself get outshined. Instead what you get is a thoroughly-MIAMI track that is one of the album's most liked.

Personally, "This Life" is my favorite track on the album. I appreciate vulnerable Denzel. This track highlights his ability to create art, not just music.

By 2016 and with the release of Imperial, Denzel had planted his flag and was not about to anywhere. As we moved on from Imperial, I was not sure what to expect. But what we got was the rollout of not only the artist Denzel Curry, but the introduction of the world to Zeltron.

Leading up to the release of "TA13OO", Denzel was working hard and releasing teaser music a la Lil Wayne with his "Sorry 4 the Wait" Mixtapes. Denzel was releasing music under an EP entitled "13".

With this project we were first put on to Denzel's seemingly alter ego ZELTRON via the track "Zeltron 6 Billion". While I admittedly did not know where he might take this, I knew the creator that Denzel was becoming would no doubt make this an experience worth following.. and with the release of "TA13OO" the next year, we got to see that firsthand.

With this new "TA13OO" album everything about Zeltron felt more direct, pointed, focused, and fine-tuned. The opening song sets the tone for the album and it builds from there.

The lead single "SUMO" was punchy and direct and no doubt a great song, but just a few songs before you would have listened to "BLACK BALLOONS" that is a floaty melancholy journey seemingly about doing good vs evil.

The album is broken up in 3 parts, similar to vinyls splitting between sides or reminiscent of multiple CD's. On to disc 2 (tracks 5-9) Curry is energetic and with tracks like "MAD I GOT IT" I think you can get a good enough idea of where he is.

The third disc (tracks 10-13) felt more dark and honest to me. The content was visceral and the energy went up with each song. The closing track, with repeating vocals of "Finish em Zel" carried the energy through to a close.

You listen to a track on ZUU like "WISH" and it shows that Denzel can do the vibes of radio records with his own twists without losing his personality or creative control.

On "BIRDZ" Denzel receives another feature from Rick Ross and once again holds his own. That standout track is immediately followed by a Tay-Kieth produced "AUTOMATIC".

By the time I had heard both of those past two tracks I thought I had found my favorites, and then I heard "SPEEDBOAT". To this day, it is still my favorite of this project.

I am still surprised this album did not get more love. Denzel is a heavy listen to some, I get that. In my estimation, ZUU should cross over into more people's preference. That all said, what I respect the most about Denzel is that he makes music for us to listen to what he has to say, not just music that he thinks we will want to hear. And, yes, that was a direct shot at a lot of your (and mine too) favorites.

The album closes out with the same upbeat energy and good vibes that carried this project. Denzel's playful energy carried this album and was the reason it was one of the first vinyl's of his I purchased.

This collaboration with acclaimed producer Kenny Beats spun off a few variations even that all add their own sounds. The primary release, UNLOCKED, featured Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats both in their own element, creating music that complimented eachtoher in a yin and yang way.

With UNLOCKED 1.5 the duo remixed songs from the first, added new songs, created something that was entirely different but in the same spirit of the first version. Kenny Beats has long been a favorite producer of mine for his ability to unlock the true spirit of the artists he works with, and these projects truly highlighted that.

Kicking off this album with the lyrics "Take a ride on my train of thought" was a perfect scene set for this project. Denzel delivered some of his most impactful messaging on this album in my opinion. Maybe it was the storytelling, and not to take away from any past work, but he felt more vulnerable and reveling of his true inner self on this project.

What we get from that is a stream of consciousness element that dances throughout the album as he addresses so many of the things in his own life, but with Denzel's always poignant personality and charisma.

With standout singles like "Walkin" and "X-Wing" it was easy to see that this project was coming from a different side of Denzel. For me, I felt this project felt more like a mix of Denzel of the past, but with a spoken-poetry theme and storytelling side greater than in past albums.

My favorite tracks of the album included "Ain't No Way" and "X-Wing" and "Sanjuro" and "The Ills". Though the album was filled with no skips. This is a perfect album to own as a vinyl, set it to play and absorb everything that Denzel is saying to his listeners.

At only 28 years old at the time of this article and with the anticipation of new music dropping soon, Denzel Curry has already built quite an impressive catalog of music.

No matter the type of content, whether music or art or podcasts, you name it, the amount of duplicate and imitated material out there has exploded in the past few years. In the world of so much moving to AI.. there is only one DC.. Denzel Curry.

As new music releases, we will update this article to ensure Denzel Curry fans have a place to appreciate all of his work for years to come.

We encourage you to visit the link at the top of the article and stream his music, purchase merchandise, follow his socials and generally support in any way feel that you can.

From all of the fans of your music,

Thank you, Denzel.