Album Review: ZUU - Denzel Curry

Fresh off of the critically acclaimed album TA13OO which released in 2018, rapper Denzel Curry is back and making his presence known with his newest project ZUU. I had forgotten that this album was releasing today, May 31st, so when Spotify alerted me that there was new music with Curry’s name on it, I was pleasantly surprised and knew that I was in for a treat. I was, fortunately, correct in this assumption. The initial impression that I had seems to be similar to that of many other fans on sites such as Reddit and Twitter, which is one of abundant praise and admiration. Denzel certainly ended the evening with a better night than Stephen did yesterday (Curry… get it? Raptors in 7.)

While not as jarringly creative and relevant as TA13OO was, Curry still delivers a project with replay-ability and stellar production here. The album cover channels late 90’s/early 00’s rap era style, and that is reflected throughout the track listing appropriately. Even by Denzel Curry’s pre-established standard of releasing high quality bangers, ZUU goes above and beyond in this regard. A modern spin on traditional southern rap instrumentals is surprisingly refreshing and sets Curry above his current competition in the scene. The intermittent skits are appropriate and further the playful tone Curry sets with his catchy flows and lyricism, which however can unfortunately be childishly simplistic at times.

It will quickly become clear as I review music on this blog that one of the biggest gripes I have with music, particularly rap, is a lack of complexity. I appreciate surface-level bars to a certain degree, but I especially enjoy lines with double or triple entendres that require multiple listens to fully grasp. This album lacks that complexity, but that isn’t to fault Curry too harshly. ZUU isn’t an instant classic, but its enjoyable production, features, and flows will keep its highlights (“ZUU”, “BIRDZ Feat. Rick Ross”, “P.A.T Feat. PlayThatBoiZay”) in the summer playlists for 2019.

SCORE: 7/10