Denzel Curry

Though first coming to attention as part of South Florida's cult Soundcloud rap scene, Denzel Curry (born 16 February 1995 in Miami Gardens, Florida) grew from a teenage upstart lost in woozy, DIY beats and aggressive rhymes into an acclaimed hip-hop starlet unafraid to confront mental health issues and raw personal tragedies. Growing up in Carol City near Miami Gardens, he was introduced to poetry at elementary school and later competed in rap battles and slams, posting his first homemade mixtape King Remembered Underground Tape 1991-1995 online in 2011. Learning his craft as part of SpaceGhostPurrp's collective Raider Klan, he was still at high school as his tracks with Young Simmie and Lil Ugly Mane started to gain in popularity and Odd Future's Earl Sweatshirt became an early supporter. He was inspired by the career of neighbourhood hero Rick Ross, but was also at the same school and the same age as Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager whose killing became a hugely controversial national story. He rapped about the incident on mixtape Strictly for My R.V.I.D.X.R.S, but really became focused after he was expelled from school and released his debut album Nostalgic 64 when he was just 18 years old. His singles "Threatz" and "Zone 3" also became local, underground favourites, but a year later his elder brother died after being tasered by the police causing him to re-emerge full of angst and unrelenting rage on Imperial in 2016. With his Bahamian family roots still noticeable in his delivery and sound, he came to wider attention when fans started an Internet craze, placing funny video clips on the Vine app with a blast of his remixed track "Ultimate" as the backdrop; soon the track was being played all over the world. His development as an artist continued when he moved to Los Angeles in 2018 and his acclaimed third album Ta13oo was split into three mood-defining parts titled Act 1: Light, Act 2: Gray and Act 3: Dark. Featuring GoldLink, J.I.D. and JPEGMAFIA, the album was a commercial breakthrough reaching number 28 in the US charts and featured single "Clout Cobain," which referenced the Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and saw Denzel Curry wrestle with his own suicidal thoughts. He rallied a boatload of A-listers—including Robert Glasper, Thundercat, and Rico Nasty—for his fifth studio album Melt My Eyez See Your Future, which saw the light in March 2022 and was welcomed by rounds of applause from critics. Two years later, he added another volume to his King of the Mischievous South series, King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2, which he launched with the lead single "Hot One" featuring TiaCorine and ASAP Ferg.