TA13OO – Denzel Curry

⭐⭐⭐✨ – 3.5/5 Stars

A valiant effort at displaying his originality, Denzel Curry’s TA13OO is a mixed bag until he circles back to the same sound as his viral hit ULTIMATE, the only way he can authentically address the taboos that he aims to discuss on this album.

Many rappers frequently embrace a darker style of production in their music. With prominent producers like Metro Boomin, Ronnie J, and Smokepurpp making songs that without 808s and trap beats sound like the score for horror movies, the popularity of using this vibe to convey a message has definitely been increasing since the beginnings of the genre. It’s no surprise that rappers do use this feel in their music: dark music is emotional, and represents the struggle that many have gone through to reach the status of making the music that they do today. Not only that, paired with a well-executed beat, these eerie songs often transform into cinematic tracks that glorify the artists’s status of being a rapper.

Denzel Curry, on his new album, is greatly aided by this technique of using brooding, ominous music to assist in the delivery of his message. With the 2015 release of “ULTIMATE,” Denzel Curry broke through as a household name, not as his actual name, but as that guy who sang “that one song from the meme.” Now, he returns, with a unique take on the oft-used motif of a rapper opening up about themselves on an album.  A pleasant surprise for those who only know Curry from his viral stint, TA13OO mixes elements of his signature tirade, a passionate, visceral rant about anything and everything, with a more down-to-earth, meaningful feel which tones down the usual detachedness that comes with Curry’s harangues, and allows him to truly embody the tangible new persona that he builds.

An album divided into three parts: Light, Gray, and Dark, TA13OO quickly transitions from Curry soulfully describing the state of his life and his past (Light) to a manic baring of his soul (Dark). The three subdivisions do the tracklist a favor by providing a level of organization that feels extremely organic, aiding the listener in their discovery of truth by preparing them for what’s to come in each subsection. Coupled with a peculiar, 6ix9ine/Kendrick Lamar-like stylism in the song names, a satirical twist on the irrationality of rap music in this era (for example, BLACK BALLOONS|13LACK 13ALOONZ), this three-pronged division complements the dark, painful imagery from the cover to manufacture an otherworldly feel, only heightened by the song names, which seem to be translated into an extraterrestrial language. Though the atmosphere Curry builds seems eerie and unapproachable, the key to this album is uncovering what operates under the mask of darkness Curry fabricates. In a way, this experience draws a parallel to the message that Curry is trying to deliver: the key to understanding people, himself included, is looking beyond their facade.

In the first song, the album’s namesake, “TA13OO,” Curry creates a personification of the idea of taboo as a woman who has gone through a lot of misfortune, but also equates the taboo to the collection of life experiences that he carries with him at all times.  The introduction to the Light portion and the album, lines like “You loving me is forbidden, loving you back is a crime” set the tone for the topics he is going to address throughout, all while showing a new facet to Curry, one more vulnerable than before. “BLACK BALLOONS,” the next song in Light, continues to embrace the taboo metaphor (“taboo and I are in the boat”),  as well as the same bluesy feel. Curry uses the black balloons in this song to represent pain, something that he also leverages towards the end of the album. In the outro, he refers to his alter ego from a previous album, Denny Cascade, but also incites curiosity in the statement, “What exactly are you trying to hide, Mr. Curry?” which sets the scene for an album that serves as an emotional release for him. “SUMO,” the fourth and final song off Light, signifies a transition into the Gray section of the album, aptly named because of its overlaying of self and world, pain and light and dark, “SUMO” being the transition to an almost transient state. Departing from the soulfulness that works well on the first two songs of Light, “SUMO” feels too early to reinstate his more violent technique, an unwelcome intrusion on the feel of the rest of Light, also a bit shallow in terms of lyrics, which discuss the profundity of his pockets which are full of money, and not much else. However, on “SUPER SAIYAN SUPERMAN,” Curry brings an energetic XXXTentacion-like sound, reminiscent of his origins as a South Florida rapper. His references to Dragon Ball Z a nod to his childhood, Curry showcases his want to feel empowered, through lines like “Let me turn into a Super Saiyan real quick,” Super Saiyan being a powerful state characters ascend to in Dragon Ball Z. The catchy but mildly superficial lyrics then transition to two songs which show ardent lyricism, “SWITCH IT UP” and “MAD I GOT IT,” which discuss a myriad of topics from mental illnesses to the state of our country. However, what the two excel in in terms of lyrical prowess, they lack in distinctiveness, feeling like fillers even though their contents are extremely insightful. This is especially evident in the latter, which feels repetitive and sluggish, while “SWITCH IT UP” at least has some dynamic tone in “To be or not to be” a somewhat cliche Hamlet reference at the beginning of the song. Next in Gray is “SIRENS,” a great song on its own, one that would fit perfectly into an album like “Head in the Clouds,” but not this one. It seems a stark change in theme from the rest of the tracks with offhand remarks about Donald Trump inserted seemingly because nowadays it’s mandatory to address the political situation in rap music. Plainly, there is not much of a theme at this point in the second part of the album. Whether that’s on purpose or unintentional remains a mystery, but if Curry wanted to show confusion, he could have displayed that feeling through his songs and not by making the album confusing to listen to. The final song of Gray, “CLOUT COBAIN,” uses an analogy to the late Kurt Cobain to describe Curry’s struggles with paranoia, especially that which comes with fame. A dark, brooding track, this X-like track sets the tone for the Dark portion of the album where the true Curry shines through. The Dark part of TA13OO is where Curry shows signs of innovation in terms of his music. This is where he starts to separate himself from the rest of the South Florida rappers and the rap scene in general. “BLACKEST BALLOON,” continuing the metaphor for pain from Light, is an eerie but frank addressing of a variety of issues, from police brutality in the form of his brother’s death by taser four years ago, to the ongoing use of drugs in rap for “clout” even though they have devastating consequences, as made apparent by Lil Peep’s death. At this song, it feels like Curry has been holding back his true thoughts for the rest of the album, and is only now letting them out, a theme he sticks to for the rest of Dark. On “PERCS,” Curry expands on the misgivings of modern rap culture, including meaningless face tattoos, unoriginal songs, and being slaves to major record labels. He continues this diatribe, progressively getting darker, leading to “VENGEANCE,” a guttural onslaught on everything that’s ever done him wrong. This sets the tone for the finale, the outro blending fluidly into the beginning of “BLACK METAL TERRORIST,” the zenith of Curry’s deep-seated fury on this album, a final remark where he acknowledges that he’s one of the most original rappers in the game,  returning to his old style, a-la-ULTIMATE.

Unfortunately, all the featured artists on the album feel too orchestrated and off-theme to fit in well with the album. Though Nyyjerya’s crooning hook is perfect for a R&B bop on “CASH MANIAC,” it doesn’t fit in well with the monological theme of growth that Curry puts forth, where he discusses his own experiences, what he’s learned from them, and how they apply to the state of the world right now. This analogy of Light/Gray/Dark feels intruded on by outsiders like the aforementioned Nyyjerya, J.I.D, and Jpegmafia, each on separate features, one included on each subsection of the album, seemingly just for the sake of having a feature.  It feels as if only Curry can do justice to the story of self-growth that he is telling – it is his story, and they are his thoughts: no one can tell it better than him.

After the recent passing of XXXTentacion, it is imminent that there remain great shoes to be filled in South Florida rap. With the release of TA13OO, Denzel Curry shows hints of filling those shoes, but also redefining what they mean, especially in the last portion of the album, Dark. Much of the album is a duel between fervent lyricism and well-crafted music, and he’s is not able to find a good level of equilibrium until this last part. But here, the true Curry shines through, delivering a haunting exposition of the state of the hip-hop industry, showing hints of the unique and unapologetic rapper that he’s bound to become.