Sound Advice: Denzel Curry

The SoundCloud rap pioneer on building a world around every release, mastering one’s craft and creating community.

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Welcome to Sound Advice, the series spotlighting artists’ creative process and their SoundCloud journey. We’ll get the inside knowledge straight from the source on how musicians, producers and creatives are leaning into everything Next Pro offers to elevate their sound, reach the right audience and catapult their careers. Sound Advice is now available in audio format on the SoundCloud Stories profile. 

South Florida rapper Denzel Curry was just 16 when he released his first mixtape. A year later, in 2012, he put out ‘King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 1 (Underground Tape 1996),’ an 18-track mixtape inspired by raw sounds from across the Dirty South. Curry was influenced by the dark bounce of Memphis legends like Three 6 Mafia and Tommy Wright III, Houston’s Screwed Up Click and the fun and chaotic sonics of South Florida, where he was raised rolling the streets of Carol City with crews like Raider Klan and Metro Zu. In the same year ‘KOTMS Vol. 1’ was released, Denzel got on SoundCloud and with releases like “Dark & Violent,” “Threatz” and ‘Nostalgic 64,’ he quickly shifted the rap scene from DatPiff downloads, Vine videos and YouTube streams to birth the beginnings of the SoundCloud rap scene.

From day one, Curry has had the lyricism, the charisma, the unique voice and an endless stockpile of lore and aliases that keeps fans captivated and wanting more. On July 19, Curry returned to his roots with the release of ‘King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2,’ dropping the highly anticipated sequel nearly 12 years later.

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Listen to the audio episode of Sound Advice, featuring Denzel Curry:

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The project is stacked with collaborations with in-demand artists including Juicy J, Ty Dolla $ign, Ski Mask the Slump God, 2 Chainz, That Mexican OT, A$AP Ferg, TiaCorine, Armani White and Kingpin Skinny Pimp, to name a few. With ‘King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2,’ Curry debuted a new alias, Big Ultra, and production that is miles away from the lo-fi bedroom recordings of his early tapes, all while keeping the same raw energy. Coinciding with the album’s release, we caught up with Denzel Curry to find out more about how it all came together.

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Listen to Denzel Curry's 'King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2'

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Things We Talked About In This Episode of Sound Advice

• The creative headspace Denzel Curry was in when releasing ‘King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 1’ and how mixtape culture, especially in the South, has been a foundational influence on his artistry.
• How Denzel became connected with Raider Klan and began collaborating with artists like J.K. The Reaper, Ruben Slikk from Metro Zu, Lofty305, Freebase, DJ POSHstronaut and more.
• How Lil Ugly Mane inspired Denzel Curry to create his own covers and experiment with different ideas, both musically and visually.
• Denzel’s different aliases and characters, and how he builds a world around each project
• How SoundCloud influenced Denzel's career, from finding his signature style to building a devoted fanbase early.
• Collaborating with others, including working with TiaCorina and A$AP Ferg on the single “HOT ONE.”
• The making of ‘King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2’ and how the project exemplifies years of mastering one’s craft, staying creative and the art of collaboration.
  
  

Links and Extras

Listen to ‘King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2’ on SoundCloud.
Bump ‘King of the Mischievous South Vol. 1’ and see where it all began.
Visit Denzel Curry’s SoundCloud.

Listen to Tomorrow’s Rap Hits: The Lookout.

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GETTING THE MOST OUT OF SOUNDCLOUD

1. Learn more about using DMs to connect with fellow artists and potential collaborators.
2. Learn more about searching your own Likes on SoundCloud.
3. Learn more about using private tracks on SoundCloud.
4. Learn more about getting started with Insights on SoundCloud.
5. Learn more about Advanced Insights, available to Artist Pro subscribers.
6. Learn more about unlimited uploads, available with a Artist Pro subscription.
7. Learn more unlocking access to unlimited distribution, available with Artist Pro.

‍To discover additional features a SoundCloud Artist Pro subscription offers, visit here. To catch up on past installments of Sound Advice and make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, visit here.

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_{CREDITS Host: Vivian Host, Executive Producer: Mike Spinella, Producer: KC Orcutt, Audio Engineer: David “DibS” Shackney, Coordinator: Trevor McGee}