Denzel Curry had never hit my radar screen until Imperial came out about 3 weeks ago. I had no idea what to expect from him or his latest project, because admittedly yes, Imperial was my first listen of anything from the Carol City, Florida rapper. Is Carol City heavy gang territory? Somebody can answer me this question right? Because based on this guy's music and persona, he's seemed to have lived quite a hard and strenuous lifestyle.
Now remember what I said about not doing full on album reviews anymore? This will be no different, just a few highlights of the tracks I like. Anyways, Denzel hits it off on the right track (if you will) on the opening number, "ULT", which Denzel later defines as meaning "ultimately til infinity". The wavy introduction instruments sound like something you'd only hear watching a power ranger morph, or watching the Joker become the Joker, or... you know, etc. "ULT" makes a hell of a statement as an opening track and makes you want more of what Denzel has to offer, and Denzel gives it to you.
Some tracks that Denzel takes you through on Imperial sound like some tracks that belong on a horror movie soundtrack, the perfect example of this being the signature gang banging sound on "Sick & Tired", where the hook describes the haunting realities of living in the hood and fearing for your life every day. Another one that gives this "300 hundred deep" feeling is "Narcotics", a track where Denzel tries to dispel the rumors that all blacks "serve narcotics." This track bumps and is something you could play at a party, but I'm not the biggest fan of the message, and the "all these crackers thinkin' that a nigga serve narcotics" line is not exactly something that is going to progress the thinking and ideas of the U.S., or anywhere for that matter.
Denzel definitely knows how to tell a story, which is harder to find with the bigger artists nowadays, and he gives some interesting stories in "Story: No Title", and even vents a little bit in some more genuine songs like "Pure Enough" and "This Life" (where he makes even an open book song sound like a banger). The Joey Bada$$ feature on "Zenith" is definitely a highlight of the tape, and that ear slapping snare makes for the perfect ambiance of a Joey Bada$$ verse. The hook is catchier than catching either artist on a zenith, and both rappers do their respective "things" on the track.
(*I do not own these videos, songs, or the rights to them*)
Overall, Curry's project does have some bangers and some tracks that partiers would love. The project is solid overall, but not much more than just "solid". He impressed me on a few songs lyrically, the beats were good (although not great), but I've never been the biggest fan of dudes glorifying and promoting the street and gang lifestyle. This new generation of "Chi-raq" types of dudes seem to force their hardened lifestyles onto the masses, and ultimately make it cool to be a part of these gang activities, or make gang and street lingo the thing to be a part of. I really don't like to be the old (22 year old) man preaching about how rap was, but it seems the difference between the "okay" artists and the "great" artists is that the "great" artists always give the impression that there is a way out of that lifestyle, while the "okay" artists claim that it's all they know, and don't attempt to show growth and maturity, even over time. So when it comes down to the musical aspect of things, Curry's project was absolutely rock solid, the music was good, but would I use this project as an example for artists coming up who want to be "great"? Probably not.
No comments:
Post a Comment