DENZEL CURRY “MELT MY EYEZ, SEE YOUR FUTURE” REVIEW

Denzel Curry produces his most expansive, dynamic, and accomplished piece of work to date with “Melt My Eyez, See Your Future,” no longer content to be considered anything less than the best. Ten years might as well be a lifetime in the hip-hop world of extreme speed. Dynasties can develop and fall throughout that time, careers can flourish and stagnate, and tragically, many hip-hop peers can perish due to either the trappings of the lifestyle or the bad intentions of others.

Reaching this milestone has made South Florida native, former Raider Klan member, and pioneering Soundcloud rap artist Denzel Curry a spectator to everything said above. The MC known as Zeltron 6 Billion has rarely, if ever, diverted his attention from his craft since releasing his debut mixtape, King Remembered: Underground Tape 1991-1995.

Denzel has persevered despite experiencing both personal adversity and artistic development. He has even managed to deal with the weighty stigma of always being referred to as underestimated. But Curry has always worked to establish why he is deserving of the public’s admiration, whereas other rappers would get resentful. When a rapper says that his new album is meant for “everybody,” it typically causes individuals who have grown to love this musician to have second thoughts. As is much too common, a quick association is made between mass appeal and “selling out.”

In the instance of Denzel Curry, his adaptability and his capacity to change or shapeshift throughout every project imply that, rather than subscribing to any one commercial sound, what Denzel truly means is that he’s showcasing everything he has to offer to the world. His fifth album, Melt My Eyez, See Your Future, which he claims is “made up of everything that I couldn’t give you on TA13OO or Imperial because I was going through depression and anger issues,” is a record of both endings and beginnings.

The album simultaneously feels like the most comprehensive representation of Denzel that we have seen to far, along with the sense that he is putting an end to some of the weighty baggage from the past that was only impeding his advancement. Everything from his flow to his enunciation is more deliberate than ever as he liberally pulls himself in all directions to throw light on every area of his mind, body, and soul. Don’t be fooled—Denzel wants you to hear every word of this intensely personal journey.

Denzel forgoes any smokescreens or masks from the start of this album’s moody atmosphere in favor of atoning for his transgressions internally. Denzel’s speech about “battling stress the size of Goliath” starts with an exhilarating mix of righteous fury and reflection before soon letting the listener into the shadowy corners of his mind.

While his bars continue to be intricate and artistic, what stands out the most is a sense that he has chosen to be completely honest rather than hold back or sugarcoat anything. Before discussing childhood abuse, “Melt Session #1” touches on how he’s “dealt with suicide thoughts, women I’ve objectified.” This gives the impression that Denzel is laying out all of his faults and suffering in order to start the record clean. Denzel’s new willingness to let his affinity for jazz manifest pays off throughout the album, particularly on “Mental” with Saul Williams and over the arpeggiated pianos of “Angelz,” which features none other than renowned jazz drummer Karriem Higgins (Kanye West, Kaytranada, Common, etc.), with its mixture of turbulence and serenity mirrored in the Robert Glasper assisted instrumentation.

These soaring vocals take on a different color on the forceful “Walkin” as the start peters out in a shower of choral noises. The song features one of the most effective beat flips of the year so far, and Denzel delivers a profound statement like “the selfish are constantly profiting off the helpless” without pausing or being self-congratulatory.

In “John Wayne,” Denzel deftly examines the bravado and self-preservation that a life of hardship and injustice necessitates over thunderous production from none other than alt-hip-hop agitator and multi-time collaborator JPEG Mafia. In “Worst Comes To Worst,” the existential crises continue to rage on. The impermanence of the human form preoccupies him much on songs like “The Last,” where he laments that there are “too many homeless, too many people laying down too many roses,” despite the potential legacy-defining nature of this album. The brief but impactful “The Smell Of Death” by Zeltron explores how, even in our moments of contentment, the possibility of our ultimate demise is constantly present. It is paired with a warped, Thundercat-adorned beat.

The sheer scope of its sonic ambition is what really sets this album apart from Denzel’s prior work, even if nearly every moment of this record feels ripe for deeper investigation. It complements the freeform environment that he and Kenny Beats created on 2020’s Unlocked in several aspects. But even when he travels to foreign countries or collaborates with fresh producers like Cardo or Kal Banx, he still seems as joyfully at ease as when he used to trade in ferocious shouts of rhyme.

In terms of hook and guest appearance from the platinum-certified T-Pain, “Troubles” could be considered his most popular song. But even when he creates something that errs just a little bit toward chart fare, it is still clearly his. Denzel maintains one of his most digestible tunes in his wheelhouse thanks to the progressively increasing intensity of his voice and the philosophical nature of its subject matter. He does this by refusing to compromise on the small details that make up his creativity.

Much like he did on “Troubles,” features are employed sparingly to preserve their effectiveness, and even when he uses a lot of them, like he did with “Ain’t No Way,” the result is breathtaking to behold. The intensity of Rico Nasty’s guest verse makes them musical partners in ways that weren’t entirely evident until they were ultimately linked on a huge single. The abrupt right turn into trap country is courtesy of LO and Powers Pleasant.

While 6lack and JID’s cameos in Spillage Village seem to be merely intended to serve as more reminders of the standard of performance Denzel is aiming for. With lines like “run the jewels because I kill a mic on any LP, Trained up my body and soul, you can’t derail me,” Denzel flexes his excellent, renown off-the-dome poetic skills in an introspective, punchline-filled stanza that doesn’t disappoint.

“Ain’t No Way” isn’t his only return to the harder-hitting sonics on which he established his reputation, signaling a significant change in mood and urgency. Even while the explosive “X Wing” and “Sanjur” show him dipping into sounds he is more familiar with, he never takes his success for granted. In “Sanjuro,” he pays tribute to the late MF Doom (“Bitch I’m a king, RIP to King Geedorah”) before spitting a pair of verses that the late supervillain would have been proud of. On the former, he adopts the most melodic flow of his whole career.

“Zatoitchi” serves as the pinnacle of his newly discovered, anything-goes style, with the intention of closing the album on a nearly cinematic note. Zeltron aligns drum and bass, ambient textures, and Slowthai’s frenzied screams as though it were the most natural thing in the world, creating the kind of track that can only result from an unshakeable, singular vision. While doing so, revealing further passages from Denzel Curry’s tao. The Ills,” a progressively developing boom-bap production by the top trio of Dot Da Genius, Noah Goldstein, and A-Trak, puts all of the themes under one roof and brings the proceedings to an end on a sorrowful but no less beautiful note.

A triumphant end to a triumphant album, Denzel suggests that he’s setting his sights on top 5’s with the coy, Kendrick-referencing bar of; “Deities and darkness meetin’ at my dinner table Deeper than rap, my life is real, this is my mystic fable. Play the bad guy just to finish the race first‘Cause the last guy was nice, but he end up dying of thirst”

When it comes to music, it’s common to believe that an artist has reached the peak of their originality or importance by the time they release their fifth album, but in Denzel’s case, nothing could be further from the truth.

Denzel has had to go on a protracted personal voyage in order to finally attain his most resilient, unstoppable form, much like the characters of the many anime and manga from which he frequently draws inspiration. All that is left for him to do is get his flowers from the rest of the globe.