- The wait for Taboo has felt like an eternity. Ever since the Raider Klan’s rise to fame and subsequent demise, Denzel Curry has been steadily refining his version of the dark, Memphis sound which inspired the Florida collective. This release comes as the much anticipated follow up to 2016’s Imperial, a project which showed Curry progressing past his influences to craft mammoth tracks like ULT and Gook, cuts embodying everything trap could be in the 21st century.
As it turns out, Taboo comes stylistically divided into three parts; light, gray, and dark. Melodramatic as this might be, it’s a good indication of Curry’s ambitions for the project, spreading himself wide with each section focusing on a different sound.
Yet despite this variation, bangers are still Denzel’s bread and butter. His mastery of machine-gun flows and devastating knack for beat selection collide on cuts like Sumo and Percs to great effect. Play these songs in public and they almost guarantee an instant riot, punchy hooks and rapid-fire verses resulting in thoroughly compelling modern fight songs made for hyped-up crowds.
These tracks show Curry completely in his element, and are sure to satisfy fans, but it’s moments where he reaches for something trendier that cracks begin to show. The prime offender for this is lead single Clout Cobain, which sees Denzel drenched in auto-tune doing his best emo-rap impression. While I can’t deny the tunes’ catchiness, I find its’ overall aesthetic utterly grating. Furthermore, delving into other sounds highlights a couple of previously inconsequential flaws in Curry’s style.
First and foremost is his lyricism. Complex writing has never been Denzel’s forte, but that’s completely overshadowed in the aforementioned heavier cuts. When things are slowed down however, the listener is forced to look for deeper meaning, and might instead have to contend with some seriously shallow and awkward bars.
This is even more evident on several moments where the album draws influence from conscious and boom-bap sounds. Denzel’s verse on Sirens is delivered well enough, but the references to date rape, mumble rap, and political unrest all come off as wholly skin deep. Additionally, many of the album’s features completely contrast Curry’s style in a way I don’t find entirely pleasant. It’s a running theme of sonic compromise, like that seen on early cut Black Balloons, which may as well be a Goldlink song with Denzel as the guest.
It’s not all bad though. Vengeance, a collaborative team-up with underground noise-hop aficionados Jpegmafia and Zillakami, goes down astonishingly well. Closing track Black Metal Terrorist is also frighteningly cold-blooded, entirely deserving of a spot in the pantheon of turn-up anthems.
All in all, it’s hard not to feel somewhat let down by Taboo. Curry is clearly an artist with boatloads of untapped potential, but this album is hardly the modern classic that Imperial might suggest. While I’m in no position to scold Denzel for attempting to diversify his sound, I can’t help but feel it could have been done in a far more authentic manner. Saying that, there’s still plenty to love about this record, and when Denzel is doing what he does best it’s undeniable. I just hope he can switch things up further without compromise on future releases.
- Boddhi Farmer.