When
Denzel Curry
emerged into the mainstream with "Ultimate," he was judged by many in the song's earth-shattering light, boxed in as a born-and-bred mosh pit maker. So when the rapper's second LP,
Imperial
, presented two distinct sides of the MC -- a blaring opener and a sun-tinged second half -- it was only natural that fans would respond better to the former. Through a half-decade of releases,
Curry
has been defined against a backdrop of bass-heavy hits like "SUMO," "RICKY," and "CLOUT COBAIN" -- leaving that second side to the MC as a thoroughly unfinished chapter.
Zel
's fifth studio album,
Melt My Eyez See Your Future
, begins to shift that narrative. Tinged in the exact blend of sunshine and temporality that made the "summer of '16" such a moment for the genre (
The Life of Pablo
,
Coloring Book
Telefone
The Sun's Tirade
),
Melt My Eyez
picks up where
left off, blending a summery set of auras into the rapper's work. With a shockingly diverse roster of producers (including
Robert Glasper
Thundercat
, and
JPEGMAFIA
finds strength in its variety: "Melt Session #1" and "Mental" are a jazz-led dives into
's mindset, "Zaitoichi" and "The Smell of Death" explore colorful new directions, and "Walkin" and "The Ills" add a warm-night introspection to
's catalog. Older styles are given new paint, too: "The Last" improves on the slow-burn haziness of "TABOO," "Sanjuro" and "X-Wing" appease the trap fanatics, and "Worst Comes to Worst" adds an emotiveness to
ZUU
's thumping approach. It's a miracle that the project flows at all, let alone as sleekly as it does.
With such a vibrant canvas to rap over, its good to hear
come at the project with a refreshed pen game. Reflections on past misdoings make for compelling markers of young adulthood --"I wholeheartedly understand why I need to grow even though I'm grown" -- while his verses are packed with slick wordplay ("Run the jewels 'cause I kill a mic on any LP"). Though he addresses personal and societal stresses in more blatant terms than before, some of the project's lyrics remain underbaked; "I see the way the people get treated, it's problematic" is hardly a rallying cry for justice. Fortunately his collaborators,
Slowthai
's "Life is short, like a dwarf" aside, prove the icing on top: the "Art of War" crew reunite on "Ain't No Way,"
T-Pain
barges through "Troubles" with lighthearted confidence, and
Saul Williams
closes "Mental" with the most poignant verse on the set.
While likely a result of
's penchant for samurai-inspired imagery, it's hard not to hear
Eyez
as the soundtrack to his "walk into the sunset": surrounded by images of his work thus far,
seems ready for the next chapter. ~ David Crone