Denzel Curry X Kenny Beats Unlocked

After releasing two critically acclaimed albums in the span of 10 months (TA13OO and ZUU, respectively), Denzel Curry began 2020 with this menacing and concise full-length record, produced entirely by Kenny Beats. UNLOCKED is the product of a manic three-day studio session that followed Denzel’s appearance on Kenny’s YouTube show The Cave.

The project finds the two mining sounds outside what had defined their respective rises in recent years. While Denzel pulls influence from various members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Kenny taps into a palette inspired by the holy trinity of Madlib, J Dilla and MF DOOM. Despite these classic influences, UNLOCKED feels entirely new, with Denzel once again setting the tone for a new decade—just as he and Raider Klan did at the outset of the 2010s.