In late August of 2026, southern rapper Denzel Curry released his seventh full-length studio album, ii, a 24-minute project in collaboration with producer Kenneth Blume. ii serves as the sequel to their collaborative mixtape, UNLOCKED, which was released in 2020, and is Denzel’s second project of this year, as his rap collective, The Scythe, released their debut album earlier this year, called Strictly 4 The Scythe. ii, while relatively short in length, provides conscious rap which Denzel has generally lacked since his most critically acclaimed album, Melt My Eyez See Your Future, released in 2022, as well Lo-Fi and sample-heavy production supplied by Kenneth.
To little debate, it is widely agreed upon that ii is Denzel’s best rap performance in years. While never necessarily ‘falling off’ (he was dubbed ‘Mr.Consistent’ by music reviewer Anthony Fantano, after all), Denzel’s reentrance into political and conscious hip-hop on tracks like “DIFFERENCE” are very welcome. However, on ii, Denzel chooses to focus on the rap industry, and specifically his place in it. While not a small artist by any means, Denzel firmly states on ii that he does not believe he has reached his peak of popularity quite yet, such as when he claims “We gon’ make it in due time, just be patient, homie, gotta get my mind right ‘cause I got paper weightin’ on me” on the track “CROWN”. Coupling Denzel’s abrasive assertion of dominance in the industry with his talented flow doesn’t just give some of the best lyrical execution of his career, but potentially of any artist this year.
Kenneth Blume’s supplements to the project cannot go underestimated either. Kenneth produced for Denzel while simultaneously working on Weezer’s self-titled album, yet he clearly placed much care into ii. The inspiration of legendary rapper-producers MF DOOM and Madlib is apparent on ii, as their sample-heavy style is scattered throughout the project, especially on the intro track “GONE FISHING” and the track “UPS”. Each instrumental is vastly different from the last, utilizing strong bass lines and Lo-Fi beats, making the tracks easily identifiable upon relisten.
While the feature list on ii is not necessarily ‘stacked’ due to the album’s short length, each featured artist provides something essential to the track they appear on. JPEGMAFIA appears on the second track “EVIL GRIN”, an artist close with Denzel, as JPEGMAFIA appeared on Denzel’s 2018 album TA13OO, while Denzel appeared on JPEG’s 2024 album I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU. The track “CROWN” features the legendary Westside Gunn, who, after going on a poorly received feature spree earlier this year on albums such as A$AP Rocky’s Don’t Be Dumb and J.Cole’s The Fall-Off, where Gunn only supplied adlibs, gave a refreshing and solid verse on ii. On the outro track “DIFFERENCE”, the artist Yebba is featured, who mainly supplies background vocals and a short verse to match the track’s energetic flow, and brings an excellent send-off to the album.
Overall, ii by Denzel Curry and Kenneth Blume is an excellent album. It features versatile flows from Denzel while providing instrumentals inspired by some of the greatest producers of all time, culminating in an outstanding product. The only way in which ii is held back is through its runtime, which is well under 30 minutes, and, on a project of this quality, only makes the listener desire more from the duo. However, Denzel has stated through socials that ii is only the prelude to an album “not up to par with some of my best work I want it to surpass my best” (Denzel Curry via X), which is slated to release in 2027. Therefore, I would give ii by Denzel Curry and Kenneth Blume a 9.4/10, and can only hope we hear another project from this duo.
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