Denzel Curry’s new album is more experimental than his past works

Miami-raised rapper Denzel Curry is an artist who is known best for aggressive rap hits like “Ultimate” and “RICKY.”

In his fifth studio album, “Melt My Eyez See Your Future,” he takes a softer approach more focused on telling his own story. While the shift could surprise some, Curry’s writing chops have been steadily developing since his first release in 2015.

On previous projects he would address serious topics, often drenched with paranoia and paired with a fear of losing things that are held dear. Now, his flows feel more relaxed than ever before as he addresses topics such as personal addiction struggles, the pandemic and racial injustice.

“Melt Session #1” sets the stage for the album with a harmonious supporting arrangement by producer and pianist Robert Glasper.

The track bleeds into “Walkin,” which was a single for the album. The project reaches its lyrical peak on “Worst Comes to Worst’”s verses.

“They draw guns so how could lead erase me? I’m baffled,” is a standout bar from the track.

The song also highlights the subdued production style of the album, capping off a great three-track run on the front end.

The following track “John Wayne” delves into mumble rap and feels out of place sandwiched by more thoughtful and developed tracks. The next two tracks are solid although they fail to differentiate themselves from others on the album.

“Troubles” is an upbeat song about overcoming obstacles that contains a T-Pain appearance. It is reminiscent of “WISH” from the album “ZUU,” which is one of my personal favorite Curry tracks. “Ain’t no way” is an ensemble track with half a dozen features. 6lack’s contributions stand out the most and bring the track together nicely.

“X-Wing” is yet another highlight, thanks to a solid beat and some catchy melodic flows. The track feels like the closest thing to a mainstream rap track Curry could muster.

“The Smell of Death” borrows from late rapper MF Doom’s style on a track barely longer than a snippet. It’s nice to listen to, although the concept feels rushed which is surprising given that some less compelling tracks were given much longer runtimes at the front of the album.

“Sanjuro” is the sole moment where we see Curry rapping at breakneck speed. It serves as a refreshing moment after a slew of slower tracks and harkens back to his style on earlier projects that helped him to amass his following.

The penultimate track, “Zatochi,” features a fast-paced beat and heavily distorted vocals of British rapper slowthai. His ramblings about life being short make the positive element of the song a bit harder to enjoy, making him easily the most unnecessary feature on the album.

“The Ills” rounds out the tracklist with a warm and nostalgic sound, not too far off from Q-tip’s embellishments on an early A Tribe Called Quest album.

“Melt My Eyez See Your Future” shows Curry’s sound evolving as he tries to be more forthcoming with his writing. However, the absence of his typical storytelling and combative bangers leaves me wanting a bit more, especially on the heels of projects like “Taboo” and “Zuu.”

The album has more meaningful subject matter than his others; however, it feels like it takes extra work to glean the meaning from it. The lack of stories about people and events leaves lots of Curry’s complex thoughts floating around unattached to each other. I rate it 7/10 stars.