10 Essential Denzel Curry Tracks

Born and raised in the county of Dade, Denzel Curry has rapidly emerged as one of hip hop's most promising young talents. 21 years old, he has already released three projects: his thrilling debut Nostalgic 64, his wavy, slightly uncomfortable double EP 32 Zel / Planet Shrooms, and his most recent album, the explosive Imperial. 

Click through the gallery to check out 10 of Curry's best songs dating back to 2013.

On "Zone 3," from his debut 2013 album Nostalgic 64, Curry takes the listener on the tour of his hometown Carol City (aka Zone 3), a violent town that has taken the life of his own brother. "Who next on a white tee?" he asks. The visual is a perfect accompaniment to the narrative yarn Curry spins. It also includes a pretty dope animated chase scene between Curry and the cops. 

One when considers the hip hop producers who make the biggest bangers, they might think of guys like Jahlil Beats, Metro Boomin, and Mike Will Made-It. Perennially underrated and criminally slept on is Ronny J, who has worked extensively with Curry and the Underachivers. "Threatz" is one of his best beats. 

The purple-tinged "Threatz" music video foreshadows the psychedelic theme running through Curry's follow-up project, 32 Zel/Planet Shroom.

Pitchfork writer Mike Madden named "Threatz" his best song of 2013.

"Parents" begins with a stormy 8-bit video game arpeggiator and then leaps into an upbeat swung track that doesn't totally fit with Curry's general aesthetic. But thematically it contains the sort of brutally realistic take on the the trials and tribulations of ordinary people that defines much of his music.

A 32 Zel / Planet Shrooms and possibly Curry's most popular song to date. Every bar is pretty great, but perhaps none is greater than the one that sums up the song's thesis: "Bitch, I am ultimate, behold my awesomeness."

"Lord Vader Kush II" sounds like what it might feel like to float through a bad mushroom trip as a neutral third party, a mere witness to the chaos. Indeed, it might be viewed as a sequel to "Zone 3," Curry's first great song about, Carol City but with even more post-apocalyptically graphic lyrics: "Lucifer calling Jehovah on the Nextel."

If you looked only at Curry's song titles -- "Lord Vader Kush II," "Flying Nimbus," "Ultimate" -- you might think he was a bit on the nerdy side. Any maybe that's true. But really he just clues into the more evocative phrases from science fiction and fantasy novels/films and uses them as a jumping off point for his deep dives into his own frenetic psyche.

"Purrposely" (prod. Sango)

Earlier this year, Curry became embroiled in a bitter beef with his old Raider Klan buddy SpaceGhostPurrp. You know Curry wasn't going to say silent for long after Purrp said “nigga teeth stay poking out like a belt buckle." For his rebuttal he scores a beat from Sango and proceeds to throw the kitchen sink at ol' Purrp. "I hope you die from AIDS."

Curry's life philosophy: "Whatever you choose to pursue in life make sure you approach it as hard as possible, by any means necessary. Reach your ultimate form and never give up, ULT for life."

"ULT" is probably as close as we're gonna get to Curry rapping over the "Miami Vice" theme song. Which is something he should definitely consider doing at some point.

Produced by FNZ and Ronny J, "Knotty Head" pays homage to Curry's powerful hairstyle and everything it stands for. Detuned synths and distorted 808s provide the aural cues for his modus operandi, which might be described here as "rage mode."

"Call me Knotty Head 'cause I don't give a fuck."

There's a Rick Ross remix (Ross hails from Carol City), it's also great but not quite as breathtaking as seeing Curry fly solo on this track.

Joining Denzel Curry on Imperial's penultimate traCatch me on a zenith, astroprojected to Venus.ck is Joey Bada$$. The two rappers were born less than a month apart, their paths intertwined on their cosmic voyage to stardom. It would have been cool to see them trade bar '90s styles but they keep a respectful distance, sticking to their own verses... but as Curry raps "catch me on a zenith, astroprojected to Venus," surely the same can be said for Bada$$.