How the musical arts influenced Denzel Curry in making hip-hop
Although there are many highly exposed mainstream rappers, some of hip-hop’s best artists take a back seat, and that is most definitely the case with the iconic Planet Shrooms musician Denzel Curry.
The ex-Raider Klan member who rose to fame after the release of his debut mixtape, King Remembered Underground Tape 1991–1995, was a 2016 ‘XXL Freshman’ and, from there, has maintained his cult fanbase. Whether it’s his fifth album, Melt My Eyez See Your Future or last year’s King of the Mischievous South mixtape, his projects are always exciting and met with critical acclaim.
Although the lyricist has released five studio albums, with his sixth due next year, the musician is not often seen giving intimate interviews or press runs. That said, during a special 2022 interview, the Miami rapper detailed how many things inspire him and, more interestingly, unveiled how musical theatre impacted his music.
Speaking to journalist Emma Robinson, when asked what was shaping his music and influencing him, Curry responded, “Theatre has actually been a big inspiration for me because recently I went to a few shows with my cousin, and he’s a ballet teacher. It was like another world, there’s so much emotion and so much movement.”
He continued, “The set-up, the soundtrack everything. One of the shows we went to even used a Busta Rhymes sample in the score, and that really caught my attention. The staging was also incredible, and it was really important to the show as a whole, and that’s something I’ve also been thinking about in terms of my work, because it can’t just be about the beat or the lyrics; it has to be about the cover art, the set of my concerts, the whole thing.”
The ‘Clout Cobain’ rhymer then explained how it made him realise how all art forms, not just music, tell a compelling story about people and unveiled that they can all learn from each other. Elaborating on this, he began, “Yeah, I mean, a lot of artists, even filmmakers, put their personal life into their characters. Have you ever seen this movie called The Art of Self-Defense? It’s by this guy called Riley Stearns, and if you look at the character that Jesse Eisenberg plays, it’s really just an exaggerated version of who Riley Sterns is.”
He continued to admit that even the way filmmakers evoke emotions and tell their unique stories has inspired him to put more of himself into his art, telling The Talks, “That’s been an inspiration for me in terms of how he tells his own story through film… So, of course, I would rather put these thoughts into a song because it is hard to tell people what you’re going through.”
Returning to music, he concluded, “Songs make you want to feel something. That’s why artists get so much praise because we are able to take the human experience and the human emotion and channel it in such a way that you have no choice but to jump out of your seat, or feel it, or cry. If I can evoke an emotion out of you, then that means I’ve done my job very well.”