Within the span of an average hour-long album, you could listen to rapper Denzel Curry and producer Kenny Beats’ new mini-album, “UNLOCKED,” a little more than three times.
Luckily, the album’s brevity makes it anything but incomplete or lazy.
Instead, the eight tracks and 17 minutes of “UNLOCKED” deliver some of the most creative and addictive fusions of grimy freestyle verses and futuristic production rap has ever seen, making it a shot of adrenaline you’ll want to experience over and over.
Former EDM artist and hip-hop producer Kenny Beats first collaborated with Florida-based rapper Denzel Curry in an episode of Beats’ YouTube series “The Cave,” where he quickly makes a hip-hop beat and a guest rapper freestyles over it.
According to Stereogum, Beats and Curry recorded the album in just three days after filming the freestyle, resulting in a project filled with infectious excitement, designed to show off their improvisational skills.
Just like the beats on “The Cave,” the instrumentals on “UNLOCKED” never feel rushed or sloppy, even holding their own on the album’s mostly instrumental tracks.
On the aptly named “Track 01,” Beats introduces the project with a gloriously old school blend of trip hop and campy film dialogue.
The wonky synths, punchy boom-bap drums and rumbling bass lines sound like the introduction of a cartoon villain and deliver an instant hit of nostalgia for any fans of classic hip-hop acts like MF DOOM or Wu-Tang Clan.
“Track07” is another instrumental cut with a funky mix of walking bass lines, psychedelic guitars and lounge keys with occasional bursts of vocals sampled from Curry’s raps on previous songs.
The lack of aggressive verses from Curry gives Beats space to shine, with intricate synth effects and catchy guitar licks making the album’s penultimate beat a masterpiece all by itself.
It may seem odd to include instrumental songs on such a short rap album, but they help the album’s flow by providing much-needed cooldowns after Denzel Curry’s relentless, aggressive and hilarious verses.
Curry’s discography is filled with quality projects, from the moody and melodic trap bangers on 2018’s “TA13OO” to the nostalgic homages to Florida culture on 2019’s “ZUU.”
But if you want to cut to the chase and hear him rap as many clever and hard bars as possible, “UNLOCKED” is easily his best.
“Pyro (leak 2019)” is barely more than a minute but delivers some of Curry’s most charismatic and confident rapping to date, sprinkling in pop culture references like threatening to “turn your crib into a game of Fallout.”
Over the twisted tribal drums and grimy bass of “DIET_,” Curry starts in a relaxed monotone before building to rap in a guttural roar that would rival some heavy metal singers.
Along with the dynamic flows and tones, Curry’s lyrics claim his place in hip-hop’s top tier, delivering clever flexes like calling himself a pair of pliers to the rap game’s tooth.
On “So.Incredible.pkg,” Curry effortlessly rides a classy mix of Beats’ slap bass, boom-bap drums and pitched up soul samples, delivering non-stop wordplay and confidence between an easy-going hook.
The way Curry uses bursts of melody to switch up his flows while bragging that his raps are so fire they “scorch the back just like it’s Anakin,” is undeniably catchy and joyously irreverent.
Kenny Beats’ eclectic production and Denzel Curry’s charming raps truly bring the best out of each other, creating a cohesive project with seemingly endless replay value.
In a hip-hop landscape where you can guzzle down bloated Migos and Drake albums like cheap beer, take some time to replay and savor “UNLOCKED.”
