Having waited for over a year, it appears that the Southern Florida rapper Denzel Curry is finally ready to release TA1300, a supposedly monolithic album that will be divided into three parts, Light, Dark and Grey. While the two previous singles released this year, Sumo and Percs, have been revealed to be teasing the Light and Dark sections respectively, Curry’s latest release ‘Clout Cobain’ is our eerie first introduction to the elusive ‘Grey’ third of the album. Immediately the track differentiates itself from the former singles with its ethereal J Gramm beat, and significantly more measured and restrained vocals from Curry. Lyrically, Clout Cobain strays from more conventional topics and explores expectations placed on artists and the heavy strain that places on their mental health; it’s a powerful and refreshing topic to explore, even if the writing isn’t particularly nuanced. Hinting at Curry’s trademark aggression, the rumbling baseline prowls between the chilling piano melody, boosting the melodic chorus and playing a large part in the track being incredibly hummable.
Curry’s careful cadence and more melodic delivery are flawless, although they appear muddy and dull due to poor mixing, which is really unfortunate, as it’s a rare glimpse into his impressive singing ability that we haven’t seen fully utilized since ‘Skywalker’ last year. Our first glimpse of the Grey section of TA1300 is dark, vulnerable and creative; I can’t wait for the rest.
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