Album Review: Denzel Curry - TA13OO

If you need proof that dynamite lyricism still exists in modern hip hop then look no further than Denzel Curry's TA13OO. The Florida rapper's third long player is a complex concept album exploring hard-hitting topics across 13 mesmerising tracks.

In an interesting ploy, Curry has divided the album into three acts - Light, Grey and Dark - with each part released separately over three days. Individually, each act offers up a different side of Curry, with the rapper growing more aggressive and hostile with his raps as the beats turn darker and harder across each release, but together the three sections form a cohesive and seductive album highlighting Curry's talent as a wordsmith.

TA13OO finds Curry at his lyrical best, with the dreadlocked prophet critiquing the music industry on the stinging CLOUT COBAIN | CLOUT CO13A1N, discussing the glamorising of drugs in the rap game on PERCS|PERCZ and addressing sexual abuse on opener TABOO|TA13OO.

Other standouts include the dirty in-your-face SUMO | ZUMO, the menacing THE BLACKEST BALLOON | THE 13LACKEZT 12ALLOON and aggressive final track BLACK METAL TERRORIST | 13 M T, an industrial-trap hybrid where Curry unleashes with rapid-fire raps that will leave you reeling.

Curry embodies the spirit of old school hip hop with his raw magnetism and tantalising wordplay while also appealing to the new generation with eerie and moody production that captures the current sonic climate.

At just 23 years of age, Curry possesses a maturity well beyond his years and has crafted one of the best hip hop albums of 2018.