13. Review.

13, Denzel Curry’s new EP following successful projects Imperial and his breakthrough Nostalgia 64 arrives a few months after his falling out with fellow Florida rapper and XXL Freshman XXXtentacion.

Before his incarceration, XXXtentacion involved himself in a beef on Curry’s behalf against the proto-Soundcloud rapper himself Spaceghostpurrp, questioning his leadership of the Florida scene, then later balking when Curry recused himself, flatly calling him passive on Adam22’s No Jumper podcast. Curry addresses the slight immediately on the first track "Bloodshed", announcing that he’s going harder to squash foes for believing he’s gone soft. Lines such as "Bitch, I’m ultimate/when I flow, I/throw bombs like a Soviet/not a communist/but I’m anonymous" reek of the '90’s pastiche and paranoia of his old posse Raider Klan, except here they’re made characteristically accessible via the delivery and energy in Curry’s voice.

The entirety of the 5-track EP follows suit. "Hate Government" builds on his frenetic flow on "Bloodshed", recycling a couplet ("they wanna scan on my wrist/my whole life on that wrist") into a hook the first of a few times on "13". Curry veers seamlessly from a chugging triplet flow to a bouncy double time throughout the tape over a smattering of squelches and bloops coupled with a feint West Coast influence recalling elements of Death Grips’ No Love Deep Web and SGP’s Blackland Radio 66.6. Highlight cut "Heartless" finds Curry rapping in a higher pitched bellow similar to Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Lil Uzi Vert’s own late '90s to mid-00s rock radio nostalgia on "XO Tour Life".

Stylistically, Curry’s one of the most complete rappers of his generation and Freshmen class, able to spit out neck-braking flows, smirk-worthy one-liners ("never went to college/don’t even listen to Asher Roth"), and nimbly bend his pitch without catching a breath. Roughly speaking, he’s the Offset of Florida’s dystopic rap scene. Here on 13, he renews the promise listeners gleamed over on Nostalgia 64 foreshadowing a fruitful year for the 22-year-old rapper.

Caleb Wossen's Moon Bounce

Written by

Dallas arts and entertainment writer waxing poetic on music and nerd culture. Read my thoughts @OozaruParfait.

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