In my eyes, Denzel Curry is one of the greatest rappers and artists active at the moment. His TA13OO album became an all time favorite upon first listen, and he has proven himself to be incredibly versatile and creative. Because of this, I embarked all the way to Boston’s Roadrunner to catch Denzel on his KOTMS tour. Denzel’s tour is in promotion of his latest mixtape turned album King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2, a follow up to a mixtape he made in 2012 at the age of 16.
The first act to take the stage was CLIP, a moody cloud rap musician from New York. Though I was unfamiliar with her work, her set quickly convinced the crowd of her ability. Engaging the audience with infectious hooks quickly picked up by our audience on songs like HATE ME. Within a brief opening set, CLIP brought some energy and a lot of emotion, and certainly left with some new fans.
Following CLIP was 454, a Florida rapper who featured on Denzel’s latest album. Of the openers, I’d say this is the one that captivated me the most. His off kilter psychedelic sound really caught me, plus some amazing chemistry with his DJ. Though he may have not gotten as loud a reaction as CLIP or the other performers, his set was very well received – and kept the crowd moshing, jumping, and yelling – and made me incredibly intrigued to hear more from him.
The third and final opener was Kenny Mason, a rock influenced rapper from Atlanta who also appeared on Denzel’s latest album. Within the crowd were many Kenny Mason fans, though I hadn’t heard him past his feature on SKED with Denzel. I’m absolutely sold on him now, what a set. Kenny had great energy and presence on stage to back his unique sound and stayed very interactive and engaged with the audience. Going from hard hitting bangers to more somber numbers, asking us to hold our phone flashlights up before transitioning right back to bangers. Excellent stuff and a great way to lead to our main act.
Finally, headliner Denzel Curry would take the stage. He stormed on with ACT A DAMN FOOL. The crowd immediately gave into his energy, a sea of young adults moshing, jumping, and yelling along. This rowdy energy was maintained as Zel transitioned to his second song, RICKY. Not one body in that crowd stayed still or silent through a chorus made to be chanted. Soon Denzel slowed down and got as chill as this set could have been. He started by asking if we could sing or if we could sang, and after a bit of banter began his 2022 hit Walkin. Sticking to our sanging promise, the crowd became a choir for the song’s hypnotic vocal loop, until Denzel started his verse and we were sent right back to his typical energy.
After more hard tracks such as BLACK FLAG FREESTYLE and Armani White’s GOATED, we heard a sound we were all familiar with. Mustard’s beat to Kendrick Lamar’s tv off. Zel wasn’t here to do a cover though, over this beat he performed DIET_, a cut from his UNLOCKED EP with Kenny Beats. A mashup of these two songs caught lots of attention online last year, including from Denzel himself. Putting this into the set proves that even over other artists’ beats, Curry is a phenomenal rapper and performer who puts the crowd first.
Eventually, Denzel brought out his first guest of the night. It was opener Kenny Mason, now appearing on stage with Denzel to perform their single SKED. This song’s crowd energizing power was only elevated by the appearance of Kenny. The pair had amazing chemistry together and absolutely killed it. This wasn’t the last guest of the night, as 454 soon reappeared after to perform his part on ANOTHA LATE NIGHT, another cut from Denzel’s latest album. Once again, an amazing pair with fantastic chemistry, and a performance that really elevated the song for me.
My top highlight started with Denzel discussing the original King Of The Mischievous South from 2012, specifically a song on it called Twistin’ that he did with Lil Ugly Mane. Lil Ugly Mane is one of my favorite musicians of all time, and while not everyone in the crowd knew him, the few who did got very excited. Denzel encouraged the crowd to sing along to the song’s hook by performing it himself, and then simplifying it for anyone who didn’t catch it all; “All you gotta know is ‘hood’, and ‘d’s’…nuts”. After this exchange he began Twistin’, one of my favorite Lil Ugly Mane songs and my introduction to Denzel. A great performance tailored for the more diehard fans, but still inclusive for less deep listeners.
To wrap up the show, Denzel cycled through some of his biggest hits, starting with 2016’s ULT. This fan favorite got the audience shouting and moving once more. Following it two fans appeared on stage, Denzel picked them to do TiaCorine’s verse on HOT ONE. Already an energetic song, the excitement of seeing the fan representation created excitement in the crowd, even if the fans may have not delivered a TiaCorine quality performance.
Soon after, Denzel had the audience split down the middle to create a wall of death. The tension being built was palpable, and before we knew it Waka Flocka Flame’s Hard In Da Paint was blaring from the venue speakers. It was time for STILL IN THE PAINT. This Flocka remix hit hard with the audience. The energy was kept up with Denzel’s 2015 breakout single and water bottle flipping anthem Ultimate. With an audience as rowdy as ever, the setlist finally cooled down with the moody earworm CLOUT COBAIN. It was a great change of pace slowing the crowd down to sing along.
Though CLOUT COBAIN ended the main set, the audience demanded more. So Denzel took the mic backstage to ask if there were any JPEGMAFIA fans. With a roaring response, Denzel took to the stage and ripped through his JPEGULTRA! verse, a collaboration from JPEGMAFIA’s latest album. The audience was brought right back to moshing and yelling for a moment before Denzel officially ended the show. Though short, this encore was the quick, triumphant energy burst this show needed to finish, and absolutely a highlight of the night. Though I was already a fan, seeing Denzel Curry perform in person only cemented his place in the current hip hop scene for me. One of the greatest in the game currently, and certainly one of the best when it comes to live performance.
