







A new Denzel Curry is ushered in with the release of CLOUT COBAIN, a song addressing the dangers and pitfalls of chasing clout.





Denzel Curry’s career has been nothing but low-key. His solo career began after his rap collective, Raider Klan, disbanded and when he released his first LP, Nostalgia 64, which was met with mostly positive reviews. His sophomore effort, 32 Kel/Planet Shrooms, was met with the similar critic and fan reviews, but produced his breakout single, Ultimate. Curry made his splash in the water-bottle flipping sensation, with the song being used as the soundtrack to the challenge. His most recent LP, Imperial, has been his most cohesive project to date, including some introspective as well as some hard-hitting trap tracks. Although this last project has shown promise, his discography has been, if anything, consistently average: no standout albums and one breakout single. Curry’s crowning achievement so far in his career has been appearing on 2016 XXL’s Freshman Class, appearing alongside more successful rappers such as Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, and 21 Savage. Although Curry has not broken into the mainstream yet, he boasts a quick flow and clever lyricism, using gothic and darker tones to weave his topics and stories together.





In his most recent single, CLOUT COBAIN, Curry makes a statement on the self-destructive natures of people trying to chase attention and popularity. He tells this story through the lenses of two perspectives: the person trying to attain the “clout” and the people around him trying to bring him down for their own personal gain. He uses these views as a cautionary tale to real attention chasers, warning them not to get too deep in these superficial goals because these goals will soon engulf their lives and thoughts. Through the perspective of the clout chaser, Curry talks about the surrounding paranoia and suicidal thoughts that the person goes through while trying to chase popularity, using lines like “I can’t even trust my friends, most of them might be foes” and “They want to go to war for things they can’t afford”. His reference to Cobain, the former Nirvana lead singer, is used as an example of a superstar who drowned in his demons while trying to chase fame and acclaim. His choice to use the word “clout” as a driving point only roots this song deeper in current events and calls attention to the current state of young adults with the dangers of social media and the internet.





CLOUT COBAIN marks the start of a different Denzel Curry than seen in the past. He ditches his usual shouting-rap style for a sing-song rap style to create a eerie effect with the creepy instrumentals that provided by J Gramm and instead of his usual gangster rap, he switches up to address psychological, darker themes. The fact that Curry branches out to issues that he is not known for speaking on shows his willingness to be a versatile artist. Not only does he attempt to be versatile, CLOUT COBAIN portrays his ability to be able to effortlessly switch his vibe and topics without losing any of his charm or lyrical talent. He successfully creates a catchy, haunting soundscape in addition to making a statement on the current state of the young adult generation. Most artists tend to struggle with balancing both of these aspects, but surprisingly, Curry blends these together to produce an above average song that applies to current events.





In the description of the CLOUT COBAIN video, it says that Denzel will explore “topics including molestation, the presidential election, fame, hatred, paranoia, revenge, love, the current state of music and personal tales of his own near death experiences” in his upcoming album, TA13OO. As a listener, be ready to see him make noise with this album and with CLOUT COBAIN under his belt, Denzel Curry is ready to evolve into a real force in the rap game.





Rating: 7.6/10





Listen to CLOUT COBAIN here: https://open.spotify.com/track/0UgavZ34yLBu8LtA6Bwxch?si=2L9Fc7xnQjumkLLHyAz17A