Melt My Eyez See Your Future - Denzel Curry: Review

Denzel Curry

is a Florida rapper who has been omnipresent in hip hop for both his acclaimed albums and numerous standout features and collaborations. Melt My Eyez See Your Future follows a shorter and more mixtape style release from Curry in 2019 and a collaborative EP with Kenny Beats in 2020. It serves as his first fully fleshed out studio album since 2018's critical success Ta13oo.

Review By Lav:

I've been a fan of Denzel Curry for quite a while. Some of his most rabid and diehard stans will certainly have a leg up on me in some areas but I've heard his entire commercial discography and responded pretty positively to most of it. For that reason I was excited to hear another full length project given how much I've liked his most conceptual and well thought album to date Ta13oo. If you're expecting Eyez to be as cohesive that really isn't the point of the record, which deals in the most varied tracklist on any of Curry's records to date. While moments on the record that really blow me away aren't exactly plentiful, there is also a bassline of talent that runs throughout almost the entire album. 

This level of solid but not quite awe inspiring execution was forecast by the records three singles, none of which are bad, but they also fail to touch his best singles from prior eras. Walkin came first and while it hasn't grown on me since I first had a just okay first impression with it, I do think it works well being placed so early on in the record after the intro track established what exactly he means by "Walkin". It has a smooth beat switch that will certainly scratch an itch for hip hop heads and its packed with enough moderately catchy refrains to be memorable.

Zatoichi disappointed me at first because it has a Slowthai feature and I was sort of expecting Psycho 2.0. Turns out Slowthai only handles the hook and the vocal distortion takes away a lot of what makes his voice so unique and compelling. After settling with the song I think it's better than I gave it credit for and ends up as part of a strong run the record closes on. Troubles was released as a single and grabbed my attention with both it's production credits from Kenny Beats and Powers Pleasant, as well as the T-Pain feature. He and Denzel have a lot more chemistry than I would have imagined and are having quite a bit of fun even though their troubles do occasionally include some serious subject matter.

Thankfully there are a few songs on the record that I like even more than the singles, and they serve as the high watermark for the album. Mental is a change of pace moment on the record that is a much more direct fusion of rap and R&B. The contrast between the sweet hook and Denzel's more aggressive vocals sounds great and while I don't love how formless the song is, I think that says more about how compelling the sounds are and that I wished it was fleshed out into more of a proper song.

Angelz features Karrem Riggins on production and the drums absolutely pop out of the mix fittingly. It really does embody the idea of "jazz rap" that gets thrown onto so many lowkey or conscious rap artists but Denzel manages to achieve both impressive lyricism and confident delivery on the song. Similarly closing track The Ills is Curry's take on a classic hip hop closing track. With the stark beat the song really leans into his lyrical observations and he absolutely manages to pull it off. It's a moment that makes me thing Denzel is just as capable of playing the role of a meditative rap veteran as he is a young banger factory. 

There's only a few songs on the record I would call bad, but there's more that just have little problems here and there. Opening track Melt Session #1 is mostly good I like the Robert Glasper beat quite a bit. The way it's first introduced with no drums before they kick in the same time Denzel really shifts into high gear is very satisfying. The song has a long and very indulgent outro at the end of it and that is something you're going to want to get used to because I would say at least 10 minutes of the album is spent with long winded underwhelming outros to songs. 

Worst Comes To Worst is basically this exact issue. It's a short some with a simple drum beat and some catchy refrains but it spends an almost surprisingly long time seemingly just waiting to end. The Last is that format taken to its most patience testing conclusion. I really do like the hook at first but the appeal fades really quickly. The really plain trap beat also doesn't do the song justice in its 4+ minute runtime. Despite all of this I have to say I really think the lyrics here work and given that its all in pursuit of one of the most emotionally involved songs on the record almost makes it worth it. 

Another problem I have with the record is that it has a few too many guest artists who don't end up meshing well with Denzel's style no matter how well they perform. John Wayne has JPEGMAFIA on production so you know the beat will be one of the kookiest on the record and it turns out to be the most interesting part of the song. While I love the gritty finale of Denzel's verse the hook here really does nothing for me and the macho posturing really doesn't come off in the way he probably thinks it does. Similarly Sanjuro sports quite a goofy hook that somehow seems like Denzel is out of breath the entire time. Featured rapper 454 stands out massively on the record with a completely different stylistic approach than anything else here. While I wouldn't say it is actively bad, the whole song feels like it just isn't meant for this record at all.

Ain't No Way is a huge posse cut with some names like 6LACK, Rico Nasty and JID that I was pretty excited to hear. As it turns out JID's verse runs very short and Rico despite delivering the best performance of the bunch doesn't really fit in with the songs glittery instrumental at all. It is an okay collection of performances but I don't think it adds up to a very compelling song altogether. With that being said Denzel's "run the jewels cause I kill a mic on any LP" bar is amazing.

Finally I just have to mention X-Wing because I think it might be the goofiest song I've heard in 2022. I have no idea how Denzel thought he could pull off all these serious bars with the silly ass refrains and singing that makes me think he didn't play this song for anybody before dropping it.

Melt My Eyez See Your Future is a toning down of Denzel Curry's sound but that is by no means a bad thing. Some of the most intimate and lyrically strong tracks here deliver both great introspection and poignant observation. Most of the times he tries to wander out of that world the results tend to vary quite a bit, but it never derails the record as there's always something else impressive around the corner. I wouldn't say I'm coming away from this project necessarily blown away, but I also foresee this record getting better with time. As he continues to hone his abilities as a lyricist and his consistently interesting self-reflections I think Denzel will keep putting out classics for years to come. 7/10

Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:

This cover is cool upon first glance which is great because it means that it will draw people in. It's a great concept but to me it boils down to looking like a photo edit done on a cell phone. I love the colors, grain and composition but it could all be elevated. There's just something missing, which could be branding, more distortion or even a contrasting color to make something about it pop. 6/10

For more hip hop check out my review of Earthgang's Ghetto Gods here