Hi, everyone. Thethony Scythetano here. The internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new project from The Scythe, Strictly 4 The Scythe.

Here we have the debut full-length album of The Scythe, a newly minted supergroup and rap posse that features a lot of talent from Hip Hop's left field at the moment, essentially spearheaded by Denzel Curry.

The Scythe also boasts membership from A$AP Ferg, Bktherula, TiaCorine, as well as Key Nyata, and also adds in more voices from an array of features from the likes of LAZER DIM, Juicy J, Smino, just to name a few.

Now, their first go at things over here is just an eight-track project, 29 minutes in length. But still, going into this, I was expecting really big things given all of the voices involved. And it seemed like, from the outset, doing things in more of a posse format, the whole point of that was to create something that was bigger than the sum of its parts.

It's also worth noting that several members of the group have a lot of experience operating in larger collectives, be it either Ferg with his ties to the A$AP Mob or Denzel Curry and Nyata, who have roots in Raider Klan.

However, I was a little worried going into this project once I heard teaser tracks like "LIT EFFECT", which for sure has a grimy Southern beat. Some genuinely evil vibes, à la early Three 6 Mafia, as well as some spacey booming trap aesthetics that feel pulled right from A$AP Ferg's Trap Lord album. And the song features an okay chorus, a sleepy LAZER DIM feature, that's honestly too weak and unmemorable for even Denzel Curry to pick up the track in the second half, despite some of his wordplay being pretty standout ("I been ducked off in the silhouette (ha) / Never was worried 'bout bills when they bill a check / Patriot, makin' this paper [...]" then it kind of goes off into a different rhyme there, but the football of it all!)

Overall, it's not a bad track by any means, but didn't really bring the thrills or excitement that I would hope a song would if we're seeing all these names splintering off into a totally different group and project.

In fact, I would say there are numerous songs from Denzel Curry's recent KING OF THE MISCHIEVOUS SOUTH tape that smoke this song. That project, arguably, already did an amazing job when it came to bringing back all these old-school Southern vibes on big tracks with big features and big choruses.

Now, as a single, the track "THE SCYTHE", the opening track to this album, I feel like it's a lot more like it. You've got a booming beat on this track, hype group choruses: "Fuck with The Scythe, you get sliced." You also have TiaCorine rapping in my favorite inflection that she happens to do on occasion. Plus, one of the more solid performances Ferg has put on in a minute. I also like how Denzel's handful of bars toward the back end of the track call back to Tia's "wish a bitch would" line. The cohesion, the energy, the whole track sounds large in charge.

The track "PHONY", I would say, is another bop for sure. It has an essential appearance from Juicy J on the chorus and an opening verse, too. Grimy Memphis vibes all around with Key Nyata playing into that with some really great triplet flows. The whole song serves as a reminder of what this sound, what this aesthetic truly is at its roots, not the bastardized version that ended up being a dead end in the mainstream through the 2010s as it got watered down further and further.

On the song "HOOPTY", this project miraculously starts to warm up a bit. It may not be in line with the ominous deep south vibes that many tracks have brought to the table so far, but its gang vocal passages and high collective energy keep it feeling like a group effort nonetheless. I mean, the whole track sounds like a nonstop block party with the most hilarious and freaky verse TiaCorine puts on this thing so far. Plus, Smino on the second half of the track is fantastic, too.

But then, further from here, I feel like Strictly 4 The Scythe really starts to further lose its consistency. As with "YOU AINT GOTTA LIE", we get kind of like a futuristic club anthem that's super heavy on the synths. And on "TAN", we get what essentially feels like a really glossy, slick piece of internet trap that would have popped off maybe around 2012 or could have been something off of Playboi Carti's breakout mixtape, which again leaves me feeling like, what's exactly the point here?

Because not only is this track missing what feels like that collective energy that the best songs so far have had, but it's also not really contributing to a focused sound or direction. And I think Strictly 4 The Scythe continues to lose grit and energy as we head to a pretty weak finish, which is an attempt at a kind of sensual jam whose choruses are a lot more alluring than the verses packed into this track by A$AP Ferg and Rich The Kid.

Unfortunately, as much as I love the highlights off of this record, across the entire tracklist, the collective chemistry that The Scythe brings is hardly unique. When it is there, we are most definitely getting what sounds like some of the most grimy, energetic, over-the-top Southern rap bangers that we're going to get this year.

But on deeper cuts, this project is either losing total focus with that sound or getting by with what feels like a standard solo artist Hip Hop album with a couple of features plugged-in type formula.

Coming away from this thing, there are a handful of songs that I ended up loving. It was cool hearing some new great verses and performances from Tia. It was also interesting hearing Key make some waves again on a record that's getting this much buzz. And A$AP Ferg, hands down, is sounding more exciting here than he did on his last solo effort, I'll say that.

So, by no means is this a terrible album or anything like that, but it's definitely not the blowout that I was hoping for given how great some of the singles were sounding and just the high expectations that I have for Denzel and everyone involved, given just how quality their past releases have been, which is why I'm feeling a light to decent six on this album.

Anthony Fantano, The Scythe, Denzel Curry. Forever.