Two years after “King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2,” the American rapper clearly seemed to be getting bored. So he picked up the pen, formed a new group (The Scythe), and rekindled the collective energy of his early days.
And what if the only flaw of Denzel Curry was having burst onto the rap scene at the same moment as a golden generation embodied by Kendrick Lamar, Drake or J. Cole? As provocative as it is, the question has the merit of underscoring a cruel truth: despite an impeccable discography, without a real misstep, some artists seem doomed to play the role of eternal outsiders.
Imperial, TA13OO, ZUU, Melt My Eyez See Your Future… At each turn, the same power, the same mastery, the same thirst for exploration. Denzel Curry is simply one of those artists who excels on every album, whether he contemplates mental illness and suicide, or pays homage to Florida, or creates deeply rock-infused works — remember that he is signed to Loma Vista (the parent label of Militarie Gun, Iggy Pop and Korn), that he recently toured as the opening act for the Deftones and that he just recorded a track with the metallers of Knocked Loose.
A Family Affair
Denzel Curry is clearly not the only one reinventing himself with every record. His singularity lies in the fact that he carries out this act with more force, style and consistency. We knew him as a devotee of Dirty South reinterpretations, a cinema aficionado – in 2022, Sanjuro and Zatoichi owed their names to heroes from samurai films – or capable of burning political anthems; today we find him in collective mode, in a démarche ultimately less egotistical than altruistic, in step with the energy of his early days when he laid down his first rhymes within Raider Klan. With its purple hue and dripping effects, the cover art of Strictly 4 The Scythe indeed echoes those of his early mixtapes.
The Scythe is therefore TiaCorine, A$AP Ferg, Bktherula, Key Nyata and Denzel Curry, all brought together with the obvious desire to elevate Southern rap (Memphis, Houston, Miami) without freezing it into a single sound or attitude. It makes you think of what Three 6 Mafia could achieve (Juicy J is present on Phony Shit) or Lil Wayne with We Are Young Money (2009), and one realizes that the five collaborators add to this pursuit of the ultimate banger – built with snare rolls, heavy bass and lush synths – a certain coherence, a real production science, which reaches its climax in a Mutt That Bih with cinematic contours. Along the way, The Scythe also delivers a hit: You Ain’t Gotta Lie, the kind of track you dance to in a club and whistle at the wheel of a Chevrolet Camaro. A story of versatility, again and always.
Strictly 4 The Scythe (Loma Vista Recordings/Universal). Release on March 6.
