Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats - UNLOCKED 1.5 Review

Unlocked 1.5 is ambitious, but in aiming for the shiny stars it has lost the solid grounding of the dirty streets beneath its feet.

Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats’ collaborative project, Unlocked, whirled wildly into the world of hip-hop one year ago. The short and snarling album garnered critical acclaim after taking listeners on a high-speed and disorientating trip through fierce lyricism and futuristic beats, leaving many shook and eager for more. This month has seen its return. Still growling, but somewhat tamer than its initial incarnation, the duo’s original EP gets a glossy makeover with some special new characters making an appearance in Unlocked 1.5.

Kenny Beats has become one of the most sought-after producers in the world of hip-hop. Known for tailoring his production to artist requests, his LA base is frequented by many of the biggest names in the game right now. Beats’ otherworldly ability to bestow a wild array of sonic creations is unparalleled, yet his origins in the EDM universe are engraved deep in the production throughout Unlocked 1.5. This high-tempo backdrop from Beats combined with classic samples, unnerving instrumentals and random gear-switching, provides a scintillating and ever-shifting soundscape for Denzel to navigate, and the Florida MC does so expertly. Denzel, who built his name on trap-style beats and heavy-hitting lyrics, showcases his adaptability throughout. He lurches from rabid, DMX-inspired bars to a clinical and calculated flow that is much more tempered, although this album is far from calm — despite running only 22 minutes, this project packs a hard punch. The collaborative endeavours of these two accomplished names appear to be a perfect storm that blusters through your ears and shakes you to your very core, only to be over just as soon as it began. 

Deliberately, the tracklist is difficult to follow. Songs overlap and blend into each other. Even the song titles themselves all look like hastily dashed-off digital files – called things like ‘Track07’ and ‘Take_it_Back_v2’ – but the tracks are much more closely worked-through than that suggests. The whole record runs much more like a mixtape than an album, and it is clear the EP should be sat through from start to finish.

In the opening track, ‘So.Incredible.’, we immediately see the sharp edges of the initial release become rounded with the prettiness layered onto this album. Robert Glasper’s production is a step away from the raw and gloomy OG version and lays down a more airy and low-key feel across the song. However, Denzel still brings his robust and smooth flow to life while he tackles an ethereal pulsing beat, ending in a flourish of snares and some silky lyrical assistance from Southern rapper, Smino – “Huh, me? Lil’ old me?” – just sounds so well-oiled as it rolls from the tongue and sticks.

This light and vibrant climate lulls you into a false sense of security, followed quickly by a jarring and claustrophobic juxtaposition in ‘Track07’. A burst of horns welcomes an unnerving beat, throwing you into a state of flux. This is the line the album then relentlessly walks as you are pulled in multiple directions, veering from Denzel’s high-energy delivery to Beats’ drawn-out, alien pulsations. From ‘Track07’ the album does not allow the listener to kick back even once, instead it grips you — and it does not let go until its culmination.

‘Pyro’ is an especially alluring track, with heavy, unpredictable bass and mesmerising tempo that synchronise perfectly with Denzel’s razor-sharp one-liners and snappy quips. The track oozes with a synthesis of skilful lyrics and a hypnotic beat. “These niggas hysterical, I’m historical / I am the oracle, I been know what’s in store for you” — these two lines stand out sharp from the tempo, transporting us to a crowd in the streets of Miami Gardens, watching a rap battle unfold. Denzel restyles his untamed Florida-bred rapping style into cadences that pay tribute to cutthroat hip-hop personalities like Ol’ Dirty Bastard. You are pushed close to that frenzied 36 Chambers charm, but the overproduction here just edges you out of that special sonic circle. As comfortably as that slick added verse from Kenny Mason sits on Sango’s new instrumental, both of these introductions take you far from that street corner. The sound loses its spiky borders as the new inclusions blunt the edges. Although the listening may be easier, the heart of the record seems to be lacking.

Only penultimate track ‘DIET_1.5’ stays loyal to its original form. Its beat remains unchanged from Unlocked while Benny The Butcher picks up the mic to drop some topical lyrics, bringing the track into 2021 – “All these racks in the ceiling got rappers back in they feelings / Treat the game like Trump voters did the Capitol building” – Denzel then surfaces in full DMX-guise, switching flow to mimic that of the infamous New York rapper. That raw and ferocious delivery, alongside that weighty bass and tempered pacing from Beats, anchors this track in its dirty boom-bap origins, which this album should have maintained. Instead, a year later the glitz of Beats’ LA polish has shined this unwashed gem up, and although it is prettier for it, part of me misses the rough charm it once held.

The Unlocked of 2020 was rapidly recorded over a feverous three-day period and that urgent inception bled into the record’s sound; it is hectic, lean and frenzied. All killer. This reimagining is a playful project, unafraid to push boundaries of creativity but also serving as a platform for both Denzel’s lyrical capabilities and Kenny’s creative proficiency, both artists’ visions. The issue is that while Denzel throws out his unshackled and unabashed delivery, Beats is too neat and too rigid in his work. The two have formulated a unique album here, but ultimately they do not compliment each other. Their clash leads to a highly unusual soundscape – but there is a disconnect that sours the sound as each musician seems to stunt the other. The final nail is the glossy update the record has undergone. The incorporation of numerous rappers and producers, each bringing their own style into the mix, massively dilutes the realness that the first album cradled. Instead, it floods the record, blurring its focus and drowning its scrappy allure.

Unlocked 1.5 is ambitious, but in aiming for the shiny stars it has lost the solid grounding of the dirty streets beneath its feet.