Once upon a time, South Florida rapper Denzel Curry tweeted that the “only person” better at rapping than himself is Kendrick Lamar. After giving that stance some additional thought over the past seven months, though, Curry has changed his mind.
“I would say Kendrick’s not better than me. When I said that shit, I’m a fucking idiot for saying that shit. Because he’s not. Nobody’s better than me. I don’t give a fuck who you are,” Curry told MONTREALITY. “And not to sound arrogant, it’s because I know who I am, I know what world I stay in, and comparing my art? You can’t. I can’t compare my art to Kendrick’s. We may have the same type of message, but I can’t never compare my art to his.”
Similiar to Migos member Quavo, who when asked in a recent feature interview for Rolling Stone to name his top five MCs decided to name himself, Curry believes that part of striving for greatest is the belief that, as an artist, you are the greatest.
Curry knows that his comments will come across as arrogant, which is why he pointed this out himself, but arrogance is part and parcel of success in hip-hop. Show me a rapper that doesn’t believe he’s the best to ever pick up a microphone and I’ll show you an artist who isn’t fit for a long career in a business that chews up and spits out artists faster than Rick Ross can take down a 25-piece Boneless Bundle at Wingstop.
To date, Denzel Curry hasn’t made the type of material to justify putting his name in the same conversation as Kendrick Lamar, but the fact that he disagrees should have his fans excited for the forthcoming release of his long-delayed album, Ta13oo.