Artist: Death Grips
Album: NO LOVE DEEP WEB
Genre: Experimental-Noise Hip-hop
8.4/10
This is the censored version of the album art. The actual art would get me shunned by every single person
who reads this review. If you wish
to see it, google “No Love Deep Web” with the safesearch off.
On
“Deep Web” a sample proclaims that “people are trying to hear what I’m
saying”. It’s a funny line
considering how MC Ride’s intense delivery can be indistinguishable. With NO LOVE DEEP WEB Death Grips have released two dark, intense,
paranoid, and yet clearly different records. NO LOVE DEEP WEB
leaves the flurry of production and sampling behind for something stripped
down, bass-heavy, far less catchy, and focused on the vocals.
On “Come up and get me” a frantic, discordant bass line accents in
certain places, making the song feel like an odd-time signature. MC Ride delivers one of the most
harrowed performances of his career, his voice emanating fear, anger, and
excitement, with his voice cracking and breaking at every line. “Lil boy” breaks out in the first hook
of the record with a cool “burn through it/I’m not taking turns through
it”. The drums syncopate with the
synth in a descending bass/drum line.
“No Love” sounds just as it’s name would suggest, with echoing bass hits
and shouted distant cries. Late in
the track a tortured MC Ride screams “CHOOSE THIS LIFE YOU’RE ON YOUR
OWN!” “Black Dice” leaves the
hooks behind relying on the trance-like synth to capture the listener. “World of Dogs” features a quiet and
surprisingly monotone “It’s all suicide.
It’s all suicide. It’s all suicide.” “Lock your doors” continues with this
dark atmospheric tonality.
“Whammy” returns to hook territory with a vocal sample that recalls
“Punk Weight” from The Money Store. Distorted vocals and
“wa-wa-wa-wa-WHAMMY” bring the vocals to the forefront. “Hunger Games” really gets to show Zach
Hill’s drumming skills. It’s snare
heavy with very heavy bass. “Deep
Web” seems like the most schizophrenic tune on the record, with MC Ride trading
off lyrics with himself.
“Stockton”’s beat somewhat underwhelms, but the hook is interesting “I’m
bouuuncin’ WOOP”. “Bass rattle
stars out the sky” is pretty self-explanatory, and is the most danceable track
of the album. The record ends with
a powerful and radically different song, “Artificial death in the west”. On this song, the frantic and angry
vocals are brought down to new lows.
MC Ride delivers his lyrics in a clear and sorrowful format, with
haunting tones permeating and mixing with the vocals in a way that both
frightens and inspires.
Lyrically MC Ride still has it.
While he continues to deliver lines that are rooted in the negative
emotions of mankind, he does so in a thought-provoking way. On “Come up and get me” the topic of
suicide is tackled: “I’m in an eight high abandoned building/No daylight one
midnight lamp lit twenty-four seven/Murdered out windows two exits/Street or
nosedive to the next life in seconds”.
Sexuality and violence meld in the terrifying “Artificial death in the
west”: “G-O-D- she shoot pussy through your chest/You die” and “In fishnet wet
guise of gimp horizon slit bled like my wrist I suck it dry/which nipples mine
read the signs still can’t decide/at your own risk at your own risk/don’t touch
me bitch don’t touch me bitch” The
shock value remains as well, with the soon-to-be-infamous line “I’m the coat
hanger in your man’s vagina” on Deep Web.
Overall this record is something completely fresh and different from
both Exmilitary and The Money Store and only proves that
Death Grips are one of the greatest modern acts. With varied and experimental productions, insane lyrics, and
an intensity matched by no other in hip-hop, Death Grips continues to
impress. This album is great, but
it does lack some of the punches on The
Money Store. The tracks
somewhat lack variety of tone, but the consistence is still good. Some tracks left me desiring more, like
“Stockton” and “Pop”, and I really wanted to hear Zach Hill go nuts. But the final product still impresses
me. 8.4 inches out of 10.
FAVE TRACKS: Come up and get me, Lil boy, No Love, Whammy, Hunger Games, Deep Web, Artificial death in the west
