MELT MY EYEZ SEE YOUR FUTURE proves Denzel Curry only answers to himself

He’s mastered the conceptual (TA1300), focused punching-upwards (Imperial) and even been explicitly driven (ZUU) – not to mention a wealth of collaborations including the truly excellent UNLOCKED EP with Kenny Beats – and now it’s time for Curry to take the lead from himself.

An exploration of his wildest ideas and most focused inner thoughts, MELT MY EYEZ SEE YOUR FUTURE comes together like a cataclysmic showing of everything he’s learned, and most importantly, he's embracing himself. It feels coherent, but also as if it's still just a part of the journey. The album isn't definitive, it's purposeful. It's also adept at proving Denzel Curry can do hyperactive flows, as well as breezy wanderings that string together thoughts that sting like a swarm of wasps, with even sharper wit, scope, and dagger language (see: “Worst Comes To Worst”'s profanity bazooka).

A sense of introspective brooding through his stream of consciousness bars radiates, hitting out at politics both societal and otherwise, the deepest stemming from "X Wing"'s contextualising the literal nature of the do-or-die fever that rappers aspire to. There’s similarly something uniquely pure about Curry. Reaching out from his love for music and what he can do with it, from powerful messages to exorcising his demons, it’s all from the purest place possible. Even the moments that rage hard (“Zatoichi” featuring Slowthai) do little to detract from the overwhelming sense that this exploration is here to serve just one purpose; remind us that Denzel Curry is greater than the sum of his parts. Even the collaborative moments here strike deftly, with the likes of Rico Nasty ("Ain't No Way) and T-Pain ("Troubles") both making apperances that play to Curry's strengths.

If anything is true from Curry's fifth outing it's that he's adaptable and will never follow one flow in the name of success. Real victory comes from delivering something cohesively independent such as MELT MY EYEZ. And as promised we do indeed see the future