Interview by Sam Haywood (@mf_JENESIS)

As 2013 comes to a close, 18-year-old Denzel Curry has done about all that an underground rap phenom can achieve in a single year. He released his groundbreaking mixtape Nostalgic 64, delivered high-intensity shows to crowds around the country and managed to snag his diploma from Miami Carol City Senior High.

Curry’s music can be defined by his own outlooks on the universe, and don’t let his gritty, gang-rap flow fool you – he hits the books and is inspired by what goes on in the world; specifically, his home state of Florida.

A scheduled interview with the young rapper was delayed due to a friend’s murder, something that Curry stresses are all too common in his community.

We sat down weeks after the tragedy to discuss his upcoming tour with The Underachievers, violence in the Sunshine State and his upcoming EP Planet Shrooms (which Curry assures, has nothing to do with the actual drug).

What’re you reading?

DC: I’m reading the bible and the dictionary at the same time, right now.

Have any New Year’s resolutions for 2014?

DC: Try not to curse too much.

Describe 2013 in one word.

DC: Hell.

Hell?

DC: I went through a lot this [past] year. It was crunch time. With getting the album ready, traveling, things going on back home and losing friends. It was hell.

You draw all of your own artwork and you are into Karate. Why is it important to be multitalented in today’s age of rap?

DC: Because it separates you from any other person. I rap and produce, I direct my own videos with direction from Uncle Luke, and I do all my own art like you said so I don’t have to pay anyone else.

How is Karate like Hip-hop?

DC: Rhythm. You got to have that to do both. It’s all a flow. You can’t be stiff and all without being able to have that ability to move.

We were born on the same day, February 16th. How does being the “Aquarius Killa” affect your work ethic?

DC: I really take pride in my sign, and with that I just take that same energy with what my horoscope says and put it into my music. I read once that we don’t know the difference between reality and fantasy, so I don’t take that seriously, because I want to find the connection between both.

People know of your situation with Raider Klan but with Nostalgic 64 you’re experiencing a different success – a solo career success. How does it feel knowing that what you have now is all you and not Raider Klan?

DC: I’m still cool with Klan, don’t get me wrong, but now that I’m doing my own thing I have more creative control. I had that with them, but now it’s just record record record. I don’t have a problem with them though. We’re still cool.

Early on how important to you was it that you built your fan base with your peers and classmates before you graduated school?

DC: Some people were supporting me because I would drop freestyles in the cafeteria, and it was all around good crowds, so much that people thought we would be fighting because there were so many kids around us. But eventually, people were like “Yo I believe in you,” even people from other hoods. I’m glad I got that support. That always keeps me going.

You’re one of the few younger rappers who can handle a stage and school and have success with it. How did you prepare for that and turn it into such a positive thing for your career?

DC: It was just like a trade. My dad and manager came to an agreement and said if I got good grades, I could do music. I chose to stay in school; I would have been like anyone else if I dropped out. School to me is easy because I’m intelligent, so I had no problem balancing it.

Along with getting to do some big shows in 2013, you’re slated to do a big tour with The Underachievers in 2014. How did that tour come about?

DC: We have the same booking agent, and we’ve been cool for a long time. We did the Boiling Room together. My set was really crazy and turnt and we’ve been talking about doing tracks together for a minute, ever since then my homie Jonathon, my booking agent, set it all up. I like the way they rap and they like the way I rap.

Are there any collaborative tracks in the works with The Underachievers?

DC: I’m not going to rush, I’m going to take my time. When the time is right, you’ll hear a Denzel Curry and [The] Underachievers track. I want to wait so we can have a genuine friendship before doing the real work.

Speaking of shows, you once tweeted that you’d do shows anywhere but Florida. Why?

DC: In Florida, (I was talking about Miami mainly), they don’t appreciate anything; they just stand around and people out of state are just more into it. I’ll stop the moment they miss me, and when I do come back they’ll appreciate me more.

“64” address some of the biggest shooting cases to happen in the Sunshine State – Trayvon Martin, Casey Anthony. Why did you choose to include this on Nostalgic 64?

DC: It’s real. It’s what really happens. People die everyday down here. Police don’t catch them. There could be a killer next door, you might say hey to them, but he could be going out killing in the next hood every day. These stories are mainstream, and it’s a problem for Florida. They don’t realize that it’s racial profiling with Zimmerman. He gets out for murder, but the moment he beats his wife there’s a problem. It shows how crooked the whole system is.

You also speak on some of your friends being killed. How did that affect you and did those incidents make you look at life and your career differently?

DC: Well, it affected me in a big way. Like really, this is someone I used to chill with. More friends died this year than any other. I ended up losing my friend Tiara two weeks ago, just two days after we hung out. Before that, when I got back from New York, my friend Dakota got killed too. That’s not even all of it.

Can we expect these themes to appear on Planet Shrooms?

DC: Actually, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m using these murders as a topic on Planet Shrooms. Remember how I told you about reality and fantasy? I’ll show you a blend of that from my point of view. Living in Miami Gardens, I’ll show you my mind and where I think their minds went. It’s not drug raps, it’s not anything like that. It’s real life and the spirit world and the topics beyond that.

Have you thought about children one day looking up to you as your success grows seeing as you’re doing things at such a young age?

DC: I have, and I want to be someone who looks up to me, but in order to do that, I have to be real as possible and speak about those truths.

Would you be into doing something for at risk children in your area in the future?

DC: I chose a different direction so I could do just that. I’m not going to choose to mess up my life. There’s always choices, there’s never a better way than a way out.