Denzel Curry has had quite a prolific run since his last full-length album, “TA13OO,” which was released in the summer of 2018.
Curry proceeded to come out with two additional projects since then: 2019’s “ZUU” and his latest project, “13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT MIXX,” (the latter of which released on Jan. 6).
Curry is a rapper from Carol City, Florida. He initially became famous through the music collective “Raider Klan.” This group had a large influence on the current generation of hip-hop artists through their various unique sounds and personalities.
Curry typically makes incredibly energetic music, great for a concert setting. He also provides substantive song topics and witty lyrics. He typically uses triplet flows and trap production, which is common in the current sphere of rap, but Curry adds a bit of a unique flavor to it, which causes him to stand out. He was also a member of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class of hip-hop artists-to-watch, which helped to further his popularity, as he was mainly known in the underground of hip-hop.
The rate at which Curry has been releasing projects is no surprise, as he’s been this prolific throughout most of his career. He is only 24 years old yet has managed to put out six official projects. What stands out about his work as of late is how diverse his catalog is, as it seems that with each project, he’s pushing for a different sound.
His newest project, “13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT MIXX,” is a call back to the music that Curry used to make early in his career. His vocals and production tend to be very distorted as well, incorporating a heavy influence from Memphis hip-hop acts such as Three 6 Mafia.
The “intro” track for “13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT MIXX” begins with a sample from the movie “Blood In Blood Out,” following it with distorted vocals and a light drum.
The track starts to pick up the tempo and introduces some old Memphis sounds similar to some of the production that an artist like Koopsta Knicca would rap over. This track may leave the listener questioning how the album may sound, but as soon as the second track begins, you get an idea of what the album is going to be.
That idea begins to form on the second track, “CHARLIE SHEEN.” It begins with some heavy bass and then a speedy flow from Curry. As always, Curry is delivering his lyrics while using an aggressive and in your face method. However, there’s a bit of difference or unfamiliarity in this project. The vocals are distorted and muddy, but not to the point where the lyrics are entirely incoherent. But the listener may have to give these songs a close listen once or twice in order to fully absorb what’s being said.
While Curry is one of the better lyricists in this current crop of rappers, that isn’t much of the point of this project. The lyrics are pretty typical for him, as they deal with situations of violence, which helps match the aggressive energy of the songs. But per usual, Curry’s rhyme schemes are impressive, as he rhymes 60% of the time he recites verses, according to a popular Twitter account Hip Hop By The Numbers, @HipHopNumbers. Rhyming helps improve his flow, as he and the respective guest features to a great job of running over this instrumentals.
The third track, “EVIL TWIN,” comes in effortlessly flawless, transitioning the energy from the track before while increasing ferocity of the album as well. The song begins with another feature on it by ZillaKami, an artist from the New York City music group “City Morgue.” He provides quite a catchy verse as the melody that is nothing short of an earworm.
Following this is the fourth track “WELCOME TO THE FUTURE,” which sonically goes in a different direction than the other songs, yet it still manages to flow seamlessly with the rest of the album. The instrumental is a little reminiscent of the California rapper
ScHoolboy Q’s track “Dope Dealer.” Curry essentially raps the same as he has throughout the album on this track, except he provides a sung hook this time. The track also has a feature from a fellow member of the music group “seshollowwaterboyz,” Xavier Wulf, who complements the song very well. Wulf manages to match the same energy that Curry provides on the track as well as hitting many of the same lyrical topics which are typical in a Curry song.
The rest of the album is much of the same, but that does not mean they’re skippable. These songs helps keep the energy flowing. “13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT MIXX” is a project that calls back to an old sound that Curry hasn’t worked with since 2017.
However, this is much more reminiscent of his projects in 2012 and 2013. It’s especially reminiscent of the beginning of his career when the Memphis influence was very apparent in his music. With the distorted bass and vocals, triplet flow, as well as a native to Memphis themselves with the likes of Xavier Wulf on the project, glorifies Memphis hip hop in the 90s whether it realizes it or not.
At a short 12 minutes, this album flies by, but Curry makes sure to grab your attention throughout it and with his powerful energy, it’s easy to see this project having high replay value. It seems that the quality of Curry’s music is as strong as ever with the prolific rate that he releases music having little to no affect on his artistic ability at all.
