Originally published at Complex. Photography by James Harrison
Denzel Curry’s psychotropic world is a fluid concoction of 90s rap, Adult Swim cartoons, and illicit activity. The 20-year-old flows effortlessly over multi-coloured production ranging from Yeezus era beats to murky lo-fi. Within the same breath, he’ll recall experimenting with LSD, eulogise fallen comrades and shout-out Super Mario Bros. Raised in Miami’s infamous Zone 3, Curry’s music reflects an upbringing peppered with the innocence of a good home and the eye-opening violence that surrounded it.
The self-styled “Aquarius Killa” posted his debut mixtape on SpaceGhostPurrp’s website in 2011 and was invited to join Raider Klan while still in high school. His confident double-time raps and retro Memphis Horrorcore aesthetic quickly gained attention, but his parents insisted he focus on school. Curry released three projects before leaving the Klan to pursue a solo career and in 2013 dropped his debut Nostalgic 64. This year, Curry followed up with double EP 32Zel/Planet Shrooms, which bangs front to back. The projects also serve as a dedication to Denzel’s brother who was killed by a policeman’s taser and his friend Tiara Grant who was fatally shot during recording.
We caught up with Denzel before he tore shit down at his London show last week. The undeniably passionate MC discussed getting a million plays on Soundcloud, mixing art with music, why he keeps his collaborations in-house and how personal tragedy impacts his content.
Your family is from the Bahamas. Did you grow up with that culture?
I grew up in South Florida. It’s like a cultural melting pot where I come from, but my people’s are of Bahamian descent and I have cousins in Nassau on the other side that stays in the Bahamas. It’s both Bahamian on my mom and dad’s side.
You’ve been open about not being a gangsta. Your lyrics are based on your environment as well as people you know. What kept you away from the streets growing up?
My parents. Even though they had disputes and they had their problems, I would say yeah, they’re good parents. Like my moms is very independent, my father is very independent and that’s pretty much where I get it from. They always stress that you should make something [of yourself]. You don’t want to stay in the same crib until you’re like 23. I’m not trying to do that.
Did you skip social events or make other sacrifices to pursue music?
It was more of a curfew thing that was in effect because when I was young, I was like one of the youngest kids in Raider Klan besides Keynyata and I wasn’t aloud to go anywhere. I couldn’t even go on tours, nothing like that, because I had school. My dad was like “nah, you gotta finish school. Maybe if you get good grades, then I’ll let you go.” So I got good grades, kept my end of the bargain, then certain shit happened and I was able to travel.
Some of your songs are getting close to a million plays on Soundcloud. That must feel good.
Oh that’s Envy Me, yeah that’s got to feel good, but it took a long time.
Ultimate hit a million before Envy Me did. I didn’t even know that song was going to pop like that. We were just like “fuck it, we finna drop this shit for the fans tonight, I don’t give a damn.” And when we dropped it, I didn’t let my manager know. I told nobody to tell him because if he would have found out what was happening, he would have held onto it and made a whole big thing out of it and it would be gone, but I was like no, I want to strike now. I feel it. I feel like this is the one, so I just boom, dropped it and it just went to a crazy frenzy. Now it’s to a point where I could perform that song after Threats.
Last year you got off tour and went straight back to the hood. Did you try to get yourself away from 32 Ave as soon as you could?
Yeah, I was still living in Carol City at the time. I mean, not really bro, but I was just witnessing my household and where I was living at. Like ok, one of my brothers just died [Denzel's brother Treon was killed by a policeman's taser last year] and it’s not the same living in my house anymore. You have that, then you have my other brothers talking and shit like “blah blah blah” arguing back and forth when we was doing the dishes. Then you’ve got my dad stressing and it’s just like, shit if I’m going to pay bills then I might as well pay bills somewhere else. It’s cool to help out your parents, but I don’t want to stay in my parent’s house for long not being able to do certain shit.
I read that when you were 12 or 13, someone you knew was killed with an AK47.
That was like my dad’s co-worker’s stepson. He was like real close to him and he got killed in Overtown. So that was the first time I heard someone get killed like that.
Your music contains pretty dark themes. Do you have a dark mind-set and is this stuff constantly on your mind?
No, you can't think about dark shit all of time or you’re going to get cancer. Like do you think I'm angry all the goddam time? I mean, I may be a little sensitive but I'm not like angry all of the time. I mean I smile, I enjoy jokes, I enjoy shit that people do as a human. It just so happens that the music I tend to make or the best shit that I tend to make, it's just angry, dark shit because shit is still fucked up.
Do you think it’s true that artists make their best work when they go through personal issues? You’ve lost a lot of people close to you.
It’s equivalent to losing something and it making you more powerful, depending on how you let it affect you. You see certain shows or you see certain movies like that where the character gets stronger because something happened to their best friend or something happened to a sibling. I feel like that’s the same effect it has on music, even certain artists for example like Future. I’m pretty sure the break-up with Ciara made him snap. I’m pretty sure MF Doom wouldn’t be MF Doom if his brother hadn’t died and him getting dropped from the label and stuff like that.
You keep your collaborations in house, working with friends instead of big names.
I don't need it. Those are the people that I've started with. Those are the people that I'm going to be in this shit with and those are the people that are going to keep me sane because that's who I've worked with for years. That's who I've been friends with for years, like my manager is still going to be my manager. He's been managing me since 2012. My DJ, we was able to bring him on tour and stuff, but he’s been producing for me for years even before Nostalgic 64 and you have the other guys, the whole Metro Zu, and you’ve got JK, Mike Dean. I’ve been working with all of these guys for years and these are the people that I’ve made a name with, so therefore I will continue building my name with these guys because it’s only going to get better. It’s not going to backtrack and all of us fire on the same calibre.
They’re only doing that just so they can have something better. I’m good now. I’m trying to make something for the future. We are the future. That’s how feel, that’s why I only work in-house because if you don’t know us now, you going to know down the line. That’s the future.
You’re not trying to be a niche artist, you want to play the stadiums and big crowds.
Yeah, because I don’t care what it is - 20 people, 2 million. I’mma destroy whatever I touch. I want to pack out stadiums because I feel like the music I make, it can be played at stadiums. Even now I feel like I could play that music at stadiums and it’ll still be fire. It’ll be legendary. It’ll be raw because there’s a lot of talent. There’s a lot of visual art, you can hear it as well.
It’s obvious you’re really determined.
I really want to do this shit. I’m not stopping. Nothing is going to stop me from doing this. I’m going to be the best artist out here, one of the best at least…
You know what, scratch saying being the best. I don’t even want to be the best, I just want to do this shit.
Do you think artists saying they’re weird is the popular thing to claim for attention?
I would say I do it for the weird kids. I really don’t feel like it’s popular. Like me, I’m fucking weird. I’m cool and all, but I’m weird. So is everybody else. If you’re saying you’re making music for the weird. Are you talking about super weird or everybody else, because everybody is crazy or weird in their own way.
What’s the meaning of the Denzel Curry logo?
That’s me. I had an afro back in the day, that’s why you see that little squiggle in the middle and that was like the Finn from Adventure Time hat. I created that logo and honestly, that logo got me out of a lot of shit because I started branding myself when I couldn’t use the Raider Klan shit no more, back when certain things happened. You know people grow apart, but that logo got me out of a lot of situations because I created it myself.
Do you still draw?
Hell yeah, I draw a lot. I’ve got a sketchbook in my book bag right now. Man, what I want to do with my art is basically draw that shit, align it with what I’m making right then [in terms of] music and try to apply it with the shows, so it could be the craziest show people have seen. I want theatrics. I went to see Yeezus, most theatrical concert I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen Flying Lotus as well. Flying Lotus’ concert is even crazy because everything he was playing, it was matching with what was playing in the background and everything, just fitting visually. I just want to give [the music] a movie, being like Quentin Tarintino in front of millions of people. I want them to see what my vision is for everything. They don’t even have to like my music. You could just come to the show and be visually amazed by what’s happening.