Following up the best album of your career is never an easy task. Most artists have to make the difficult decision of either continuing to use a style that made their last record successful, or experimenting with new sounds while risking the goodwill of both fans and critics. Following the release of the heavily thought provoking Melt My Eyez See Your Future, Denzel Curry chose to sonically take things back to the beginning of his career on his new release King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2. Before Curry evolved into the introspective lyricist we know today, he began his career in the Florida based group Raider Klan. This group was known for their energetic take on the Memphis based hip-hop sound.
On this sequel mixtape to 2012’s King of the Mischievous South Vol. 1 (Underground Tape 1996), Curry wades in familiar territory to those early days, but with improved lyrical abilities and much more confidence this time around. Hosted by legendary Memphis rapper Kingpin Skinny Pimp, this project is a love letter to the old sounds of the “Dirty South” that myself and many others have been nostalgic for from when it came onto the scene in the 1990s and early 2000s.
To truly understand this project, you have to go back to the days of Memphis rap group Three Six Mafia and iconic Texas producer DJ Screw. During this time, southern rappers were not considered to be legitimate MCs, and were often considered to be beneath their West and East Coast contemporaries. This lack of acceptance led to the creation of more experimental music that would eventually be appropriated by rappers (looking at you A$AP Rocky) all across the United States. On this mixtape, Curry’s reclamation of the sound results in one of the more fun projects released this year.
The production across this mixtape is very nostalgic and bouncy, giving Curry a strong background to deliver his dexterous and energetic flows. The opening song “ULTRA SHXT” is a strong cut of southern flavored cloud rap, with subdued vocals over a sample of 2 Low-Key’s “On That Devil Shit” creating an almost ambient feeling. Another highlight of this tape, “BLACK FLAG FREESTYLE”, contains some of Curry’s best wordplay and a show stopping performance from up and coming Texas rapper That Mexican OT.
The second half of the tape decides to take an alternating approach between grimy distorted tracks such as “SKED” and “HOODLUMZ” balanced with breezy pop-rap tracks like “COLE PIMP” and “WISHLIST”. An integral part of this project that will most likely be overlooked by others are the interludes. Despite these intermissions being short and spread throughout the tape, they add an incredible touch to the project, giving it a feel of an unrecognized demo cassette that traveled through a time portal inside a dusty box in someone’s basement.
From top to bottom, King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 is a consistent offering that scratches an itch by dipping into nostalgia, but not reveling in it to a fault. It does this by putting Curry’s unique aggressive and distorted touch on the sound of Memphis hip-hop. We can discuss and argue the musical qualities of this project for days, but the most important thing about this tape is that it is energetic and lively. The Florida MC’s ability to switch between deeply introspective and heartfelt songs, to bangers built for maximum destruction in a mosh pit, is seriously underappreciated in the landscape of modern hip-hop. There are simply not enough artists who know how to have a good time without sacrificing quality in their music. Even though there has been a widespread decline in southern hip-hop in recent years, it is a relief that I can finally rest at night knowing the torch is in good hands.
Official Maurice Crawford Score: 8.1 / 10
