Denzel Curry’s fourth effort appeared suddenly and seemingly unexpectedly, but with hits and entertaining interludes spread throughout, the rap world opened it with open arms. This album utilizes a lot of pre-choruses that lead into Denzel’s spectacular hooks which really add to this album’s replay value. Denzel’s versatility as both a rapper and a singer is truly fun to listen to. He comes at each beat with an interesting twang of creativity and that is really apparent on ZUU.
Curry’s evolution and maturity as an artist has been really fun to watch. He has a remarkable discography considering “Ultimate” blew up just four years ago and this album is simply another really impressive mark towards his career.
Below are my favorite tracks from ZUU.
“ZUU”
Denzel opens up the album with a cool, eerie track that pays homage to his hometown of Carol City. He tip-toes over this track which complements a really dope 808 pattern that runs the tempo. Pretty aggressive bar-for-bar rapping and a clean hook ensures a top-5 spot for this track in my book.
“RICKY”
Backing up to the intro track, Curry now gives a nod to the people that he came up with saying, “Trust no man but your brothers / and never leave your day ones in the gutter.” Curry then proceeds to go in for two really great fast-paced verses. This track has seemed to hit most with fans and it’s definitely one of the gems on the album.
“WISH” feat. Kiddo Marv
This might be my favorite track on ZUU. Produced by Charlie Heat, the anthemic track has a retro sound. When the sub bass hits Denzel throws out an infectious flow that extends all the way through his verse. He continues to shoutout his city and he even gets a Miami-native Kiddo Marv to spit in a clean verse.
“BIRDZ” feat. Rick Ross
This is another hard-hitting track. Rick Ross works over this insane production with ease, coming in as a guest for the second verse and throws some classy raps over the FnZ-produced track.
It’s a super unique moshy beat that’ll be sure to be on repeat for fans.
“SPEEDBOAT”
This track has pretty relaxed and light production but Denzel sets a tone by rapping about topics such as his deceased friend saying, “My dawg didn’t make it to 21, so I gotta make it past 24” to cap bars. He styles with some varying flows in the second verse and continuously raps about going through various trials and tribulations. It was a really great single to drop prior to the album and it set a standard to where this album would end up taking you.
