Album Review: Death Grips — The Powers That B

I’m starting to notice a trend within the Instagram music community within the past couple of months: there seems to be a certain niche of accounts that really, really like to debate on which albums by their favorite artists are the best. Sure, this has been occurring for a while in circles of every genre within the mainstream, but in 2019, discography rankings have been talked about in association with literally any modern rapper I can think of nearly every day. Whether it’s in a group chat, a collective post is made about it, or there’s a Twitter comment section, someone always seems to want to debate the best Kanye album, or which songs from To Pimp a Butterfly are the best. And while I appreciate fans doing this, I believe it can sometimes get in the way of what really matters: the music itself. Therefore, I’m not going to try and support my argument about why I think The Powers That B is the best Death Grips album in this review. Rather, I’m going to tell you why I think it’s important to their discography and what it’s done for underground hip-hop as a whole.

But first, some context. The Powers That B was originally slated to be the last album in the Death Grips canon. The group claimed that they ‘were now at [their] best’ and, because of this, moving on to other things. This plan worked for all of about two weeks until the group announced a world tour and claimed they ‘might do some more’ on their Facebook. I and many other fans are happy this happened, as some of the group’s best work has come after their pseudo-breakup, contrary to what the band members may have thought at the time.

So, with all of this in mind, you’d think that Death Grips weren’t exactly messing around here if they were making its some of their best music, right? Right. The Powers That B doesn’t waste a second of its nearly hour-and-a-half run time doing what it’s creators do best: fearlessly and ferociously plow through some of the most well-crafted, energetic, and innovative rap and rock songs of the decade. The first half of the double album, titled Niggas on the Moon, is a skittering, breakneck-pace collection of tracks packed to the brim with Björk vocal samples. Every song on The Powers That B utilizes her voice in some way, shape or form, used so extensively to the point that it’s even programmed as the snare and hi-hat on an electronic drum kit that Zach Hill uses for a solo at the end of the final track, “Big Dipper.”

The second half of this album, titled Jenny Death — and, in true Death Grips fashion — seems like the complete polar opposite (however that’s possible) of whatever the fuck the group crafted on NOTM. Instead of containing rhythmically insane drumming and wild lyric passages, Jenny Death is a bit more straightforward both structurally and lyrically, but not so much so that it ruins the flow or mood of the album. It’s still a Death Grips record, and from the very beginning of TPTB, this is evident. The insane noise-punk drumming of Zach Hill, combined with the absolutely unfiltered, no-hold-barred approach of vocalist Ride’s screamed lyrics, and insane production of Andy Morin make for some of their best music to date. On songs like “Inanimate Sensation,” “Centuries of Damn,” “Beyond Alive,” and “On GP,” Death Grips utilize their independence of being in the underground rap game by taking subjects that are rarely talked about — or even taboo — within the mainstream and speaking upon them in a cryptic, but, at the same time insanely descriptive fashion. “Turned Off,” “Pss Pss,” and “The Powers That B” accommodate for some of the wackiest Death Grips production ever. The whole second half of this album is just insane on every front and my personal preference to Niggas on the Moon.

I’m sure most of you reading this review right now have already heard this album. However, if you’re looking to get into Death Grips and are feeling brave, feel free to take a nosedive into this LP. The Powers That B may not be the most accessible place to start with Death Grips in my opinion, but it certainly is chock-full of fantastic songwriting. If I could sum it up into one word, The Powers That B is fearless. It’s completely devoid of any doubt it has within its compositions and fully willing to delve into whatever topic, sound, or feeling it needs to in order to come across the way it does to the listener.

TL: DR — fucking listen to it.