Released July 27, 2018
7.5 / 10
Favorites
TABOO, BLACK BALLOONS, SWITCH IT UP, SIRENS, VENGEANCE, BLACK METAL TERRORIST
Least Favorites
CASH MANIAC, MAD I GOT IT
Despite the often abrasive presentation, TA13OO is the sound of a man bridging the emotional distance between buried trauma and the charismatic front he’s known for. Denzel Curry’s third studio album is sprinkled critical revelations - sharing coping mechanisms with the aftermath of his brother’s inhumane killing and obliquely admitting having been molested as a child (which he later confirmed, piercing through any remnant traces of ambiguity) being some of his most personal to date. The album's sound is hard to pin down, just like the underpinning motivations and emotions that gave birth to it: ranging from paranoia, revenge, love, dealing with fame, status to mingling the state of music and society, it offers a 360 view of where Denzel’s focus was at in 2017/2018. Although those emotions often translate in noisy, power-hungry themes, there are plenty of soulful - almost atmospheric - moments that stand out in the crowd; and opener ‘TABOO’ is one of them.
There’s just something about Denzel’s aura that requires the very best from his collaborators. Maybe it’s the uncanny charisma, audible confidence and skill the ‘relatively new’-comer displays that pushes others to be on their A-game. Maybe it’s his natural warmth and willingness to share the spotlight whenever possible. In any case, features on TA13OO lead to explosive results more often than not. ‘BLACK BALLOONS’ is bouncy and fairly laid-back but Denzel and friends don’t let the tempo dictate their deliveries. Instead they run loops around the beat, pausing it when necessary (hear GoldLink bending the instrumentals at will) and using it to their advantage whenever appropriate (hear the hypnotic chorus on which Twelve’len provides a subtle yet crucial support). JID notably delivers one of the best verses of his career in ‘SIRENS’ - if anything production does him a little disservice by covering his vocals with frantic cicada-like percussions. Denzel also leaves us gasping for more as he ends the record’s most socially engaged track on “I’m a sinner, you a sinner, I can see the devil grinnin’, damn” to a fading instrumental. And speaking of gasping, ‘VENGEANCE’ is a breath-taking cut where each of its main players sees the preceding contributor’s energy and raises it several levels. Denzel manages to surprise us 12 tracks in with one of his best verses on TA13OO and ZillaKami marks his territory like the track was his own. It doesn’t take away from the beauty of the final soulful send-off that goes out its way to make us question if all we heard was real.
If TA13OO is as convincing as it is to convey its messages and sound authentic, it’s in large part due to Denzel’s ability to show and tell. Most notably, when speaking on mental health and paranoia - that sound like they have arisen from a mixture of personal circumstances outside of his control and dealing with outside expectations - he not only cops to having trust issues but also sounds overly suspicious of everyone around him. The walls are lyrically and audibly still up. On ‘SWITCH IT UP’, he speaks from personal experience when he says “everybody wanna ride waves / And jump when the ship don’t sail” and suggests that status and wealth can become insidious fast-tracks to varying levels of paranoia. It’s no coincidence we get so many impressive variations of flow and play with vocals - it feels like there are at least 3 different Denzels on this and not one sounds at peace. ‘MAD I GOT IT’ writes itself in the direct trail of ‘SWITCH IT UP’. The line between friends and enemies becomes so blurry it’s impossible to know which to keep close and which to keep closer. It’s moodier than the rest of TA13OO and bogged down by a sparse web of reverb that doesn’t necessarily allow Denzel to dazzle. It even gets unpleasant on the semi-melodic chorus; stuck somewhere between half-baked croon and spoken word - a twilight zone whose shine is dimmer than campsite leftover embers at the crack of dawn. Another cut joins the two mentioned in preparing for the worst. ‘CLOUD COBAIN’ addresses many of the risks of notoriety, including inevitable coups by members of his entourage. The composition doesn’t stand out to the extent where it sounds like many others could do the instrumentals justice better than what Denzel comes up with. In all fairness, he does throw in sprinkles of the Curry essence in there, combining the serious and the goofy (“I’m feeling like Raichu ‘cause everything shocking to me”’s clumsy turn of phrase is part of its charm). Yet those are not really enough to make up for the track’s lack of direction - that lets the song drag on way past its expiry date.
If I were to try and figure out what makes a Denzel Curry song a Denzel Curry song, instrumentals and melodic audacity wouldn’t be the first place to direct my attention to. Instead I’d look more into the magnetism of Denzel's deliveries and the flexibility with which he delivers acidic one-liners. Denzel has figured out how to captivate early on: it’s hard to take your ears off of him once he’s gotten in. This explains why slow progressions and no-frills productions are smart choices to accompany his flow - whereas they’d be a bullet in the foot of many a rapper. Lead single ‘SUMO’ is a gut punch that owes its effectiveness almost entirely to Denzel’s gravitas. Admittingly a bit less so, ‘SUPER SAIYAN SUPERMAN’ pulls you in in part because of Denzel’s amazing lyricism and his ability to match it with an impressive flow. Disproving the thesis that Denzel can only shine atop simple instrumentals, the tumultuous ‘BLACK METAL TERRORIST’ revels in ups and downs, building up strength on the chorus and going all out on the verses. We finally get blessed with one of the most satisfactory outros on the album (and competition is stiff), ending on the high needed to initiate anticipation for his next release. And, retrospectively, follow-up ZUU didn’t disappoint - although I’ll gladly admit to being slightly more partial to TA13OO.
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