The GB Album Club 013 - TA13OO by Denzel Curry

BOOders! Welcome to the 13th installment of the Unofficial Giant Bomb Album Club, which happens to fall on Halloween! 13? Halloween? Such a coincidence can only mean one thing: All observed and unobserved cosmic forces that govern the universe love the Unofficial Giant Bomb Album Club, and so do you! Last week, we listened to David Bowie and it was awesome because it's David fucking Bowie. This week we are not listening to David Bowie, but that's no reason to despair because we are, in fact, listening to TA13OO by Denzel Curry! This album was selected by @climax, and you can listen below:

Spotify

Apple Music

Bandcamp

Youtube

Here at the Unofficial Giant Bomb Album Club, we made a big ol' pool of albums and we pick what we listen to at random. To participate in the club, all you gotta do is listen to the album and comment below! And if you want to discuss music in a more intimate setting (and be in on the next round of album submissions, which is coming sooner than not!), why not join our Discord! We got a channel for good ass songs, and we got a thread in that channel just to talk about what you're listening to regardless of its quality! There will probably be more channels at some point! It's a good time!

Also, check out and help us build Vol. 2 of our Halloween playlist! You'll find links to Vol. 1 there as well. Also a good time!

I listened to this album when it first came out. At the time, I wasn't really that much of a fan of it.

My actual first encounter with Denzel Curry was Imperial, the album that came out before this one, and I liked that a lot. Not only was Denzel clearly a talented guy with a ton of energy, but he had something to say beyond the usual battle rap posturing and bravado. He felt like an actual artist in a sea of just rappers, if that makes any sense, and it was pretty obvious that he was going to be something. So my disappointment with TA13OO at the time was that I didn't feel like it was enough of an evolution from Imperial. It's certainly more ambitious and well-executed, but at the time, it felt more like a refinement than something new from him.

Now, since 2018, we've had Zuu, Unlocked, and Melt My Eyez See Your Future, and my craving for a general sense of newness from Denzel has been more than satiated. While all three are great, Unlocked is a sentimental favorite of mine because it was the first thing I listened to that made me feel normal after the pandemic started and Melt My Eyez See Your Future has a very strong chance of making my top 10 at the end of the year, what with the jazz sound it embraces and executes to near perfection.

So now I return to TA13OO, and I think I was too hard on it.

Comparatively speaking, it's still a pretty simple album compared to what came after it. However, I don't know why I thought that was a bad thing. Maybe it was because I expected too much from Denzel. After all, you listen to his early stuff and it's easy to think, "Yeah, this is the dude." But whatever the reason may be, I was wrong.

I will say that the more braggadocio tracks, particularly in the center act, are ok to fine. But when he gets personal, this album really shines in a way that I too easily brushed past back in 2018. The way he touches on his real life molestation as a child on the opening track or the effects of fame on "Clout Cobain" or his encounters with police violence on "Sirens." (Denzel went to high school with Trayvon Martin and his brother Treon Johnson was killed by the police two years later.) The content married to the aggressive production was pretty affective for me this time around.

The concept behind this album is that it's supposed to go from light to dark material as it goes on. (The three sections are "Light," "Gray," and "Dark" in that order.) There's a decent point to be made that he doesn't really stick with the concept that well. But regardless of how its structured, the songs on this album that work are so potent that it makes the lower moments easy to ignore.

There are some Denzel projects I like more. But this TA13OO definitely jumped a spot or two high in my Denzel Curry ranking.

Favorite Songs: "BLACK BALLOONS," "SIRENS," and "CLOUT COBAIN"

From the perspective of someone who doesn't listen to Denzel Curry and is pretty lukewarm towards this current era of rap music: This is a good album. I remember Fantano being pretty positive towards it, and I can see multiple tracks from this album being included in various block party playlists and similar social gatherings.

But that's kinda it for me. I don't follow this current era of rap very closely because my interests lie more with technical death metal. Denzel is one of the few names that have registered with me over the years though Fantano's reviews, but I was never curious enough to actually listen to the albums that where reviewed; which applies to more than just TA13OO.

So... yeah. I kinda don't much to say here.

I thought this was decent but I can't see myself returning to it. I feel like it starts stronger and then trails off. There's a really good flow, at times but the album's not maintaining its grip on me.

I liked this album a lot. Curry has much more variety and melody to his flow than Little Simz did and that made a huge difference for me. I would definitely go back to this album again.

Got back around to this one today. I think that if I listen to any album with the purpose of trying to appreciate it, I will generally enjoy it to some degree. Never listened to any Denzel Curry before, and I don't listen to much hip-hop in general. This seemed like a well made album. There weren't any tracks that I thought were particularly catchy, but I did enjoy Super Saiyan Superman the most, I think. I appreciated Sirens also, though I wouldn't say I enjoyed it per say. Probably not something I would revisit or seek out, but I could tell that it was high quality.