Denzel Curry on Vinyl: Where to Start and Where to Go Next

Denzel Curry has never let a single sound hold him. Born in 1995 and raised in Carol City, a neighborhood of Miami Gardens, he came up through SpaceGhostPurrp's Raider Klan collective, left it in 2013, and has spent the decade since moving between Memphis-indebted aggression, South Florida bounce, jazz-informed introspection and full-blown experimental rap. The through line is not a style, it is an appetite: every record sounds like a rapper testing what else he can carry.

Since Imperial in 2016, his catalog has run through Loma Vista, and that stretch is where most collectors start. It contains a three-act concept album, a hometown record built for car speakers, two collaborative projects made with producer Kenny Beats, a Southern mixtape that reaches back to his teenage tapes, and a 2026 collective record that put him back in a crew for the first time since Raider Klan. Very few rappers of his generation have a run this varied that still sounds like one person.

We carry his catalog deep, across black pressings, color variants and a few CD and cassette options. Here is how the shelf breaks down, in order, with a note on where each record fits.

Denzel Curry - Imperial

Imperial arrived in March 2016, first as a free upload and later in an expanded edition, and it is the record where Curry stopped being a promising local name and became a national one. Ten tracks, roughly thirty-eight minutes, with Rick Ross on "Knotty Head" and Joey Bada$$ turning up alongside "ULT," the song that still opens sets. Production from Ronny J, FnZ and DJ Dahi keeps the whole thing lean and smoke-clouded.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The most efficient entry point in his catalog: ten tracks, no filler, and the clearest picture of his early voice.
• "ULT" and "Knotty Head" are the two songs that built his live reputation, and both hit harder on a proper system.
• A useful document of mid-2010s South Florida rap before the region's sound splintered.

Denzel Curry - TA13OO

TA13OO, from July 2018, is his most structurally ambitious album: three acts titled Light, Gray and Dark, sequenced so the record gets heavier as it goes. Guests include GoldLink, JID, JPEGMafia, ZillaKami and Twelve'len, with Billie Eilish adding vocals before her own debut landed. "Clout Cobain" and "Sumo" are the entry points, but the third act is where the album makes its argument. We also stock it on a magenta pressing.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• A genuine concept album that rewards side-by-side listening rather than shuffle.
• The guest list is a snapshot of who mattered in adventurous rap in 2018, JPEGMafia and JID included.
• Two color pressings on the shelf, so you can pick the one that suits your shelf.

Denzel Curry - Zuu

Where TA13OO went inward, Zuu went home. Released in May 2019 and named for Carol City, it runs twelve tracks in under thirty minutes and was written, by Curry's own account, out of homesickness for Miami. Rick Ross and PlayThatBoiZay appear, and production from FnZ, Ronny J, Charlie Heat and Tay Keith keeps the bass in Florida the whole way through.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The shortest, most immediate record he has made, and the one that plays best front to back in a car.
• A regional record in the best sense: Carol City slang, Miami bass weight, local features.
• Sits perfectly between the density of TA13OO and the openness of what came next.

Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats - Unlocked

Unlocked is eight tracks and under eighteen minutes, cut with producer Kenny Beats in a burst of studio sessions and released in February 2020 with a twenty-four minute animated short film attached. The beats are dusty and abrasive, the raps are pure momentum, and nothing overstays. A purple hayze pressing is here too.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The best short-format rap record of its year, and a masterclass in leaving before you are asked to.
• Kenny Beats at his most sample-forward, closer to underground boom bap than his radio work.
• The accompanying film gives the record a visual identity most rap projects never get.

Denzel Curry - Melt My Eyez See Your Future

His fifth studio album, from March 2022, is the pivot record. Melt My Eyez See Your Future retires the alter egos in favor of plain first-person writing, and pulls its imagery from Kurosawa and the spaghetti Western. Robert Glasper, Thundercat, T-Pain, 6lack, Rico Nasty, JID and slowthai all appear, with production ranging from Cardo to JPEGMafia to Kenny Beats. It is also on blue smoke and lavender.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The most complete album he has made, and the one most likely to convert listeners who thought he was only a shouter.
• Jazz and drum and bass textures sit next to Southern rap without either feeling like a costume.
• Three pressings in the shop, including two colors, for collectors who care about variants.

Denzel Curry - King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2

Twelve years after the teenage mixtape that shares its name, King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 came out in July 2024 as a deliberate return to Memphis-rooted Southern rap. Fifteen tracks, a guest list that runs from A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg to Juicy J, Project Pat, 2 Chainz and Ski Mask the Slump God, and none of the introspection of the album before it. Also available on neon violet.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The pure-fun record in his catalog, built for volume rather than close reading.
• Juicy J and Project Pat connect the tape directly to the Memphis lineage it draws from.
• A clean pairing with the 2012 tape it answers, which makes it a good gift for a longtime listener.

Denzel Curry & The Scythe - Strictly 4 The Scythe

Strictly 4 the Scythe, from March 2026, introduces the Scythe: Curry alongside A$AP Ferg, Bktherula, Key Nyata and TiaCorine, his first collective since Raider Klan. Across eight tracks and roughly thirty minutes, Curry often steps back to hand the record to the others, with Working on Dying handling much of the production and Juicy J, Smino and Luh Tyler stopping through. It comes in tangerine and transparent violet as well.

Why it's worth purchasing:

• The newest chapter, and the first time in over a decade he has built a record around a crew instead of himself.
• Working on Dying production gives it a phonk and Memphis-bounce edge distinct from the rest of the shelf.
• Three pressings to choose from, all with the same short, replayable runtime.

If You Like Denzel Curry

Five artists we carry that share his wiring, drawn from the fans-of notes on his records:

• JPEGMAFIA: the closest peer in noise tolerance, and a recurring collaborator on both sides.
• Earl Sweatshirt: the quieter, more interior version of the same generation's restlessness.
• Freddie Gibbs: technical, unhurried rapping over producer-driven albums, especially the Madlib and Alchemist sets.
• JID: a frequent guest on Curry's records and a comparable rapid-fire writer.
• Danny Brown: the same willingness to let production get abrasive without losing the song.

Where to Go From Here

Curry's second album with Kenny Beats, credited to Kenneth Blume, is ii, cut mostly on an SP-404 with Yebba, JPEGMAFIA and Westside Gunn along for it, and we carry it on clear and sea blue vinyl plus CD and cassette. If you want the wider context, our Hip-Hop and 2020's Vinyl Albums shelves are where most of his peers live. And to see every Denzel Curry title we have in one place, pressings and formats included, browse the full Denzel Curry collection.