When Denzel Curry emerged into the mainstream with "Ultimate," he was judged by many in the song's earth-shattering light, boxed in as a born-and-bred mosh pit maker. So when the rapper's second LP, Imperial, presented two distinct sides of the MC -- a blaring opener and a sun-tinged second half -- it was only natural that fans would respond better to the former. Through a half-decade of releases, Curry has been defined against a backdrop of bass-heavy hits like "SUMO," "RICKY," and "CLOUT COBAIN" -- leaving that second side to the MC as a thoroughly unfinished chapter.
Zel's fifth studio album, Melt My Eyez See Your Future, begins to shift that narrative. Tinged in the exact blend of sunshine and temporality that made the "summer of '16" such a moment for the genre (The Life of Pablo, Coloring Book, Telefone, The Sun's Tirade), Melt My Eyez picks up where Imperial left off, blending a summery set of auras into the rapper's work. With a shockingly diverse roster of producers (including Robert Glasper, Thundercat, and JPEGMAFIA), Melt My Eyez finds strength in its variety: "Melt Session #1" and "Mental" are a jazz-led dives into Curry's mindset, "Zaitoichi" and "The Smell of Death" explore colorful new directions, and "Walkin" and "The Ills" add a warm-night introspection to Zel's catalog. Older styles are given new paint, too: "The Last" improves on the slow-burn haziness of "TABOO," "Sanjuro" and "X-Wing" appease the trap fanatics, and "Worst Comes to Worst" adds an emotiveness to ZUU's thumping approach. It's a miracle that the project flows at all, let alone as sleekly as it does.
With such a vibrant canvas to rap over, its good to hear Curry come at the project with a refreshed pen game. Reflections on past misdoings make for compelling markers of young adulthood --"I wholeheartedly understand why I need to grow even though I'm grown" -- while his verses are packed with slick wordplay ("Run the jewels 'cause I kill a mic on any LP"). Though he addresses personal and societal stresses in more blatant terms than before, some of the project's lyrics remain underbaked; "I see the way the people get treated, it's problematic" is hardly a rallying cry for justice. Fortunately his collaborators, Slowthai's "Life is short, like a dwarf" aside, prove the icing on top: the "Art of War" crew reunite on "Ain't No Way," T-Pain barges through "Troubles" with lighthearted confidence, and Saul Williams closes "Mental" with the most poignant verse on the set.
While likely a result of Zel's penchant for samurai-inspired imagery, it's hard not to hear Eyez as the soundtrack to his "walk into the sunset": surrounded by images of his work thus far, Zel seems ready for the next chapter.