Denzel Curry – “Vengeance” (Feat. JPEGMAFIA & Zillakami) Video
One of this year’s best rap albums is TAI300, the new one from the influential Miami rapper Denzel Curry. Curry is still in his early years, but he still has a strong claim to being a rap pioneer. As part of the Raider Klan crew, Curry helped pioneer the murky, chaotic, lo-fi South Florida rap style that eventually morphed into the SoundCloud-rap style that’s become dominant over the past year or two. On TAI300, he messes around with that style a bit. But he also splits the album into an ambitious tripartite structure that separates it into different moods, styles, and ideas.
One of the last songs on the album might also be the best one. On “Vengeance,” Curry joins forces with the experimental Baltimore noise-rapper JPEGMAFIA and the enigmatic New York growler Zillakami, and all three of them go absolutely bugshit over a clanking, slapping beat. There’s a lot to like about the song, but my favorite thing might be the rare chance to hear JPEGMAFIA doing some of his most accessible work to date. And now more people will hear it, since “Vengeance” gets a video today.
Director Zev Deans has made the movie look like a grainy ’70s grindhouse horror movie. In the clip, the three rappers stalk the streets of New York’s Chinatown, hang out in rooms full of meathooks, and, in a gory moment, perform open-heart surgery on a fully conscious mime. Miami tape-label baron Mickey De Grand IV makes a memorable appearance. Watch the clip below.
TAI300 is out now on Loma Vista.