I’m not sure if people are still checking for the Raider Klan like that, but they should now more than ever. Spaceghost Purrp quietly drops mumbling murder raps that make you want to smoke yourself to incoherence in a honey comb hideout where the walls are coated in kief and THC wax is used in lieu of stucco. Yung Simmie dropped one of the year’s best, most slept-on mixtapes in Basement Muzik. Robb Banks retains vivid laser eye guide aim. And now, these videos from Denzel Curry turn up, who I had not previously been checking for because I had gotten him confused with Denzil Porter (who I still am not checking for — should I?)
People critique Raider Klan for leaning too heavily on the early Triple Six or being too inconsistent, but if you were going to take inspiration from an era, few are better than Juicy & Co’s cassettes and neck snapping early run. I see the messiness as rawness. These videos from Curry and the Klan are hungry and savage. They rap with the fury of dudes who will still swarm your car if you make a wrong turn in the wrong hood. In short, they rap like dudes who haven’t fully cashed in yet and that invariably makes for the best rap music.
The video above is for “Strictly for My R.V.I.D.X.R.Z,” name obviously taken from 2Pac’s most underrated record. Curry has studied but does not seem like it. The flow changes speeds at least four times, voice capable of curling into a sneer, some rugged rap shit from the badlands, but shot in the Boiler Room? This is 2013. I am sold.
Watch/Stream:
