Denzel Curry - 13 (Revisit) and Other Ramblings

Before we begin, I just wanted to say that I am a piece of shit who makes too many promises that he can't keep.  I promised and didn't deliver on not one, but TWO posts this week.  I'm not gonna make the "I'm busy" excuse that I've always resorted to.  The reason why I didn't make my Murda Beatz and Fetty Wap posts were simply because I didn't have enough material to make them.  I've decided to cancel my Best Beats series because I realized that I know jack shit about music production and have to come up with so many ways to say "This beat gives off an [adjective] vibe and fits [rapper]'s style so well" without it sounding redundant.  It just gets boring for me.  I know I can come up with a suitable replacement for that series because I basically come up with new ones every week.  To make up for that, I've decided to just talk about some random stuff in addition to my 13 revisit.  Not all of them are about music but I just wanted to get them out there.  Anyway, here's the actual post:

13 is Denzel Curry's 2017 EP that was released as a teaser for TABOO | TA13OO.  Denzel Curry has always been known for his lyrical prowess and experimentation with distorted trap production.  I love Denzel because he's a great middle ground when it comes to hype and lyrical music.  Since this is an EP, I'm doing a track-by-track review and then giving my total score at the end.

1) Bloodshed - This is Denzel Curry's first song with producer Eric Dingus.  His production gives off an eerie vibe.  Denzel interpolates his hit song "Ultimate" and hits us with fast-paced flows and some great lines such as "You don't want beef, might as well play possum, dead."  It's a pretty good way to start the EP.

2) Hate Government - This track, along with two others, were released as demos on SoundCloud.  This track features a robotic flow over a distorted instrumental.  The lyrics, as predicted, are very edgy and anti-government.  This song is so hard and I wish it wasn't so short.

3) Equalizer (feat. Ronny J) - Ronny J's production always slaps, and this song is no exception.  I'm always a fan of the distortion and tractor bass in his beats.  Denzel is very quiet on this track, and the reason why is this:

"I freestyled all this shit, on Garageband, at 1 o'clock in the morning in Baltimore. Top of the head. And the reason why it sounds like that is because I had no microphone, and we tried to mix it to the best of its abilities.”

Microphone or no microphone, Denzel's quiet voice makes his delivery all the more menacing.  In addition to production, Ronny J also has a verse.  His melodic rapping is always hit or miss.  Personally, I think this verse would sound much better over a different beat.  He sounds a little out of place but he doesn't totally ruin the song.  Even though this song has some problems, they are very easy to overlook because this song slaps.

4) Heartless - On this song, Denzel proves that he isn't a perfect artist, starting his verse in the worst way possible:

"My gun got diarrhea when it boop boop boop boop boop"

Lines referencing fecal matter are awful no matter how good the delivery.  Starting off your song with one makes it even worse.  I also hate Denzel's vocals on this.  They sound really funny but also really annoying.  The hook that ends this song sounds very annoying and repetitive.  This is the only bad song on the EP.

5) Zeltron 6 Billion (feat. Lil Ugly Mane) - This song sounds like distorted boom bap.  Denzel delivers some great bars in his verse such as this one:

"Pardon me, ni**as be, Madison Square guardin' me"

Lil Ugly Mane was okay.  He wasn't as good as Denzel but his verse wasn't bad either.  This song is okay.


Overall, this was a pretty great EP that I enjoyed listening to.  I can't wait to listen to all three parts of his new album when it comes.  I'm feeling a 7/10 on this one.


And now, some random crap that I've been thinking about.

1) First off, I don't have much to say but I guess since I had notes on my Murda Beatz post, here are my 10 favorite beats and least favorite:

Worst Beat: Travis Scott - Butterfly Effect - Astroworld (Unreleased)
Best Beats

1. Drake feat. Quavo x Travis Scott - Portland - More Life
2. Migos - Get Right Witcha - Culture
3. Murda Beatz feat. Swae Lee x 2 Chainz - Yacht Master - Keep God First
4. French Montana feat. Drake - No Shopping - MC4
5. Smokepurpp x Murda Beatz - 123 - Bless Yo Trap
6. Ski Mask The Slump God feat. SahBabii - Coolest Monkey In the Jungle - Beware the Book of Eli
7. 6ix9ine feat. Nicki Minaj x Murda Beatz - FEFE - N/A
8. Drake - Nice For What - Scorpion
9. 2 Chainz feat. Travis Scott - 4AM - Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
10. Huncho Jack (Travis Scott x Quavo) - Saint - Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho

2) I know the World Cup Final was a long time ago and people are no longer delivering their takes and such, I want to get mine out in the open.  People are getting mad at Antoine Griezmann using Fortnite emotes as goal celebrations for some reason.  The same people giving Griezmann shit for using the "Take the L" emote also like to whine about sports going soft because "there's not as much grit as there used to be."  If the celebration wasn't a fucking Fortnite emote, you wouldn't be giving Griezmann shit at all.

3) PewDiePie has shit taste in memes.  I don't like to get elitist about stuff but some people who meme just don't know how to meme.  I've been following his *CLAP CLAP* MEME REVIEW series for a long time now, and I honestly can't stand some of his opinions.  He gave the Ugandan Knuckles meme, which is just some random shit about knowing the way that isn't funny whatsoever and also a little racist, a 7 (or 8 I don't feel like looking it up) yet gives some seriously good memes low scores because they were run into the ground.  The truth is that PewDiePie doesn't kill memes, he waits until they're already bordering or beyond dead to review them.  There isn't any different reason why he gives genuinely good memes that unfortunately got overused, such as the car salesman meme, unfairly low scores.  Also, while we're at it, his subreddit, /r/PewdiepieSubmissions, is hot garbage.  LWIAY (Last Week I Asked You) started as a joking ripoff of Jacksfilms' YIAY (Yesterday I Asked You) but now Pewdiepie isn't asking any questions.  The subreddit has become 90% reposts and stolen memes from other meme subreddits.  Thankfully, Pewds focuses on the more creative efforts on his show.  But if you ask me, LWIAY shouldn't have existed in the first place if the show was just gonna turn into another subreddit review.

4) Nicki Minaj has 6ix9ine as one of the openers on her and Future's tour and I think it's such a stupid move.  6ix9ine's fans have no crossover with Nicki's.  Is she being generous because 6ix9ine let her do a verse on her new song?

5) I heard that DJ Khaled is performing at the Overwatch League Grand Final tomorrow and this is another move that I think is really stupid.  First of all, people who listen to DJ Khaled's music barely have any crossover with Overwatch players (as far as I know).  Second of all, DJ Khaled is TERRIBLE live.  He's supposed to be a DJ and is a shitty DJ.  He constantly shouts random tags, gives Miami and other cities more shoutouts than need be, constantly restarts songs, and dances until he sweats profusely (which is usually a few seconds in).  He was booed off his set at Electric Daisy Carnival last year because he kept doing this shit.  His set at the 2017 NBA All-Star Saturday Night was awful because he kept shouting out Miami despite performing in New fucking Orleans.  His OWL performance will be a disaster and I cannot wait to see it.