Hi, everyone. Backthony Antano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats album, ii.

Yes, here we have a new collab between producer Kenny Beats, a. k. a. Kenneth Blume III, and Florida rapper Denzel Curry, a. k. a. Zeltron Six Billion, coming together for a trim, fun, casual little project here, titled ii.

This is obviously a follow-up to the last condensed collab that these guys did together, Unlocked, which was also on the shorter side, and if memory serves, was actually categorized as an EP, kind of a tape. It wasn't a proper album at the time; at least that's not how it was being pitched, that's for sure.

And that was six years ago at this point, and the project had a funny concept to it; the material on it that we were hearing wasn't given to us through normal means. Rather, it was almost like it was leaked or unlocked. Like, got these tracks as a result of a hack, or something like that.

So as a result, all the material on this thing had this raw, unfinished presentation to it, even the song titles themselves. And there were elements, of course, that felt a little thrown together, or repetitive here and there. It's definitely not Kenny's or Denzel's best work, respectively. But still, it's a very fun, messy mixtape of an experience, and kind of shows how a lot of the appeal of something can kind of come down to how you present it.

But with the ii sequel over here, we are not getting the same thing as Unlocked, for sure. I mean, the runtime and the track list is also very punchy and to the point, sure, with pretty much every track on this thing being on a mission to get in and out under three minutes, with, of course, a couple of exceptions. But for the most part, the material and the songs on ii, in comparison with Unlocked, are a lot more finalized and polished.

And it feels like there was more thought put into these tracks as well, especially considering how much effort Denzel and Kenny seem to be putting into embracing their influences on this one, or at least engineering this project to appeal directly to the exact kind of rap nerds who will most likely be talking about this record ad nauseum on social media. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you're getting beats as good as these that clearly feel like nods to greats such as Dilla as well as Madlib in terms of their sort of jazzy, lo-fi veneer and the heavy use of samples.

It's just got that classic Stone's Throw vibe to it. An era that is clearly influential to Denzel as well, who is not shy about borrowing the occasional flow from legends like MF Doom. Even referring to himself as a villain on the track "UPS," which is not a highlight on here for me because of the very low energy he goes into that track with, but still. Even as a least fave, that track is still pretty solid.

One more thing I want to mention with ii, though, is that this record very much feels like a victory lap for both Kenny and Denzel at this point in their respective careers, because they both came up in separate circles during the SoundCloud era and have since amassed very devoted and intersecting fanbases who have ridden with them through numerous paradigm shifts and trend changes over the years, and are now, arguably at the, most versatile and interesting peaks of their careers, with Kenny producing for Weezer, and Denzel going into a lot of his latest projects with different conceptual angles and even collabing occasionally with, bands on the hardcore scene.

But conversely on ii, I feel like they are each going back to basics and creating the exact kind of turn-of-the-decade hip-hop that they both most likely appreciated as they were coming of age. But more importantly, the experience of these tracks is just energetic; it's fun. Right from the get-go, Denzel Curry hits us with these fierce, hungry South Florida flows, showing incredible consistency and breath control as he usually does over these swanky guitar leads, and what sounds like some kind of gated, stiff drumbeats that have a slight 80s flair to them.

I also love some of the rhythmic switch-ups that Denzel throws into his flow as he drops lines like, "my passion is Christ-like, write like Ernest Hemingway / but I fight like Mike with a swipe-bite / real-deal Holyfield type night / you know what they might like, bitch, I'm the zeitgeist."

Shifting from here, the track "EVIL GRIN" features JPEGMAFIA, a gnarly crossover that, in terms of enjoyability and energy, very much matches what they did together on JPEGMAFIA's I Lay Down My Life For You album. But if their collab could have landed on one of the more rock-oriented songs from that record.

Then, "CANDLELIGHT" is a track that really sticks out to me for its production, these really prominent Indonesian, funky, psych-rock samples. In fact, I love the way Denzel Curry kinda plays off the vocal sample on this one, and sings along with it goofily by the end of the song.

Though I will say, there's not quite as much meat on the bone lyrically as there are on other cuts here, like "PRODUCT," which is a bit more of a food-for-thought moment, as Denzel reflects on a more-money-more-problems mentality, getting a little bit into the zero-sum game that money and capitalism put us in, via housing and fighting for scrap, socially speaking. Similar themes come through on the song "BENJAMIN," as well, as he laments time being money, and a host of other things, too.

And again, with this project being as short and as trim as it is, we head pretty quickly into the finish, which I think is very strong and features some of the best tracks on the record.

One, "COLD NIGHT IN HELL," which is a very interesting moment lyrically, feels almost like a mea culpa in a way, from Denzel to his audience, as he reflects upon moments in the industry where he's kind of put his neck out there to support others, but has felt burned, and is lyrically trying to subliminally put that person in his or her place here. But more importantly on this track, Denzel kind of paints himself as somebody who at least at one point has gotten a little complacent because of the success that he's seen, off of his talents.

Now, looking at his catalog, I don't know where along the Denzel Curry timeline that complacency was actually there. I mean, it's been very clear, at least for me, on record, I have thought Denzel has continued to be one of the most consistent rap artists of his generation, and is continually coming at each new project with a fresh idea, and a lot of passion, and a lot of hunger, and something to say.

Denzel kind of spilling these sorts of feelings out onto a track like this on a record that is also pretty great, maybe says something about the super high standards that he puts himself to in terms of operating on a certain level of creativity and skill with each new album or record that he comes out with. And if it's not up to his standard, I guess it's not up to his standard. At least those standards are high. There are certainly lots of artists out there who go into making records with no standards at all; I appreciate that Denzel has them.

There's also "CROWN" with Westside Gunn. The appeal of this track is pretty clear as fucking day. It's just a nasty piece of boom bap with some chipmunk vocal samples, and of course, Denzel Curry and Westside's respective energies lyrically and vocally mix like peanut butter and jelly. I would say there are even some Wu-Tang vibes coming off of this instrumental as well, which I appreciate.

Then there's the closer with Yebba, which is handily the catchiest track on this record. I love Yebba's hook on this cut. The weird, falsetto-ish range that she sings in.

There are odd but ear-grabbing and slick vocal lines. And Denzel himself is keeping up these speedy flows at a tempo that moves at a nice clip, going to show that you don't need to sacrifice skill, detail, and intensity in order to make a track that is accessible and fun to listen to. Which, again, I feel like those are kind of the key tenets of ii overall, and it very much achieves them.

Yeah, sure, there are Denzel projects that you could say, by comparison, are a little bit more deep or conceptual or clear-minded in terms of the overall sonic vision they're trying to pull together. This is more of a loose, carefree, but still focused on the mission of making good music crossover between two long-time friends, and admirers of each other's work, respectively.

They know each other's strengths, creatively speaking, and work toward those, on a small batch of tracks here that, in terms of consistency, are great. Could it have been longer? Of course, we all would have wanted more of this. But for the size and ratio of great songs to, eh, to here is still a very enjoyable and very praise-worthy project, which is why I'm feeling a light eight on it.

Anthony Fantano, Denzel Curry, Kenny Beats, forever.