II attacks in waves. The second full collaboration by Denzel Curry and Kenneth Blume – following 2020 EP Unlocked – attacks first with Blume’s vintage, occasionally degraded production, which itself vaunts the eternal beauty of raw hip hop.
Like Madlib, RZA or Alchemist, curiosity will be piqued by the esoteric sources of Blume’s samples. He utilises the drum track from The Montereys’ Get Down to fluff up his malefic, intriguing synth-tinkering on Evil Grin, creating a psychedelic, atonal musical premise perhaps born from the freedom Blume hasn’t been able to obtain when working with the more mainstream artists he’s befriended.
The sample of Candlelight belongs to Candle Light by Indonesian prog band Benny Soebardja and Lizard – yup, Indonesian prog band. Still, the song is an example, one of many, of the meeting of the minds II consistently is. Denzel unleashes a flipbook of great, quick-witted flows that coolly rampage as if he’s a fighter who don’t break a sweat. “I’m singing and rejoicing for the God, MC Revival / Simon says to never worship American false idols”.
Benjamin is also a meeting of the minds. A lissom, funky instrumental is supplied by Blume, which Zel’s money-obsessed lyrics – that ponder just how much space in his mind money should take, at the deficit of his identity – groove with fluidly. Denzel brushes naysayers aside on Gone Fishing whilst Kenny offers a bouncing instrumental with blaring rock guitars and a persistent rhythm.
With beats this good – or blumes this good – why wouldn’t you want to be at your best? Westside Gunn is prompted to be at his best on Crown, and he delivers. Not to mention Yebba on the fanciful, built-up Difference.
And when you consider just how strong Denzel is with rawness on the brain, with dirty, southern bite, it should be no surprise that he’s at his best on II too. He’s assured when sprinting and slickly stating “so I think they need me, right?” on Product; he’s charismatic when honouring MF Doom on the laid-back UPS.
He’s at his very best, most undaunted, on Cold Night in Hell, as he assuredly honours the luxuries he’s been able to afford whilst retaining trademark vigour. That said, no matter the detail, one of the true highlights of the album is the moment he says “and you just hiding from the fact that you a fuckboy”.
II abides by fifteen years of great Denzel Curry projects – from the super creative to the southern hardcore – whilst Kenneth Blume continues his awesome 2026. This rapid, raw, short-but-spectacular album emphasises the strengths of any good rapper-producer relationship, but touts this particular one as a major event whenever it occurs.
Best tracks – Gone Fishing – Candlelight – Benjamin – Cold Night in Hell.
Rating – 8.5 out of 10
