Denzel Curry’s Top 10 Songs

Look no further for the ultimate list of top Denzel Curry songs. The Miami Gardens, Florida rapper, who released his first mixtape in 2011 and joined the Raider Klan collective until 2013, has gone on to release six studio albums, three major EPs and seven mixtapes, including 2024’s King of the Mischievous South, Vol. 2.

For true Zeltron fans, get walkin’ down the list of the top Denzel Curry songs below—and looks out for when his Mischievous South Tour hits North America in March.

10. “SUMO | ZUMO”

Smashing every expectation, Denzel Curry previewed his 2018 album TA13OO with the heavy-hitting lead single “SUMO | ZUMO.” Produced by Charlie Heat, “SUMO | ZUMO” gives Curry the floor for unfettered flexes and a hard-charging vocal delivery. And good thing his pockets are too big, because “SUMO” helped push TA13OO to become Curry’s first Billboard 200-charting album.

9. “DIET_”

The bars are downright bloated on Curry’s 2020 single “DIET_.” Living in excess on his quest for “peace and quiet,” Curry is everything to everyone, from “the Shogun [that] came through with no gun” to “the tyrant, the titan, the ogre, the lycan, the vampire taking over empires/ If the game was a tooth, I’m a f–king pair of pliers.” Released as part of Curry’s collaborative EP UNLOCKED with producer Kenny Beats, “DIET_” features a dense lyrical delivery that was somehow completed during the project’s three-day recording process.

8. “This Life”

Denzel Curry puts “middle fingers up” to “This Life” on the introspective slow-burn from his sophomore 2016 album, Imperial. Across an uncharacteristically understated beat, Curry questions the strength of his support system against the building challenges of everyday life. Although Curry would reveal more of himself in later projects, this early cut serves a crossroads that intersects his straightforward SoundCloud rap origins and future open-book lyricism.

7. “HOT ONE”

Reviving his King of the Mischievous South mixtape series with 2024’s Volume 2, Curry comes out absolutely scorching on the lead single “HOT ONE.” Starting with some vintage record scratches, the standout track ignites with a sinister beat that quickly tips its hat to Memphis hip-hop with samples from local legends Juicy J and Hollow Poynt. Speaking from his Big Ultra persona, Curry reflects on how far he’s come (“One day, I’ll be big but I know I’m getting closer”) and how much has stayed the same (“ain’t shit changed but the number on my front door”). The looser mixtape style also leaves space for two fire features from TiaCorine and FERG.

6. “Ain’t No Way”

While on the subject of guest features, nothing from the Denzel Curry song list can top the lineup of “Ain’t No Way” from his 2022 fifth album Melt My Eyez See Your Future. Trading verses with artists like 6LACK, Rico Nasty, J.I.D., Jasiah, Kitty Ca$h, Powers Pleasant and Buddy, Curry comes in with “bullets curvin’ left and right sort them like parentheses” to “turn your sympathies to symphonies.” Despite the rare posse cut for Curry, he revealed in an interview via The Bootleg Kev Podcast that the collaboration was the “easiest thing that ever happened,” with the group recording the entire song together in one night.

5. “BLACK BALLOONS | 13LACK 13ALLOONZ”

Certain to pop any preconceived idea of what a “classic” Denzel Curry song could be, the second track on 2018’s TA13OO finds Denzel Curry with a new sound and perspective. “BLACK BALLOONS” rises to the top in part by its glimmery futuristic production, catchy hook from Miami vocalist Twelve’len and closing verse by D.C. rapper GoldLink. However, the song becomes truly ascendant through Curry’s lyrics, which grasp common themes like death and mental health and ultimately decide to let them “float by me.”

4. “RICKY”

Listen to your parents, kids. Minding lessons from his father Ricky like “trust no man but your brothers,” Denzel Curry infuses his fourth studio album ZUU with time-tested wisdom while pushing his sound further on a teetering, trap jam. Following the album’s release, Curry performed “RICKY” during his late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. As for the titular parent, Curry shared via the Song Exploder podcast that the song was officially dad-approved, calling it his “theme song.”

3. “Ultimate”

This is the ultimate, behold the awesomeness. On Denzel Curry’s 2015 breakout hit, the Carol City native goes all-out from the start with breathless braggadocio and all-caps exclamations like “I am the one.” Over a biting sample loop by producer Ronny J, Curry not only establishes his unrestrained, maximalist style, but also his long-running “ULT” mantra that appears across multiple projects. After being included on his debut 2015 EP 32 Zel/Planet Shrooms and later going viral in 2016, “Ultimate” became Curry’s first charting single, on the Billboard Rap Digital Song Sales chart, and remains his most-performed song live, according to setlist.fm.

2. “Walkin”

Proving he still has many more creative miles to explore, Curry ventures out far from the norm on the solemn and reflective “Walkin.” As the second track on 2022’s career-shifting Melt My Eyez See Your Future, “Walkin” marks the first steps of a renewed Denzel Curry. Switching up his stride, Curry looks back on his life-long sprint caused by recurring cycles of struggle (“I’ve been runnin’ all my life/ That’s way before my life begun”) and the luxury that comes with breaking them (“Wash my sins, keep ballin’/ I just gotta stay focused/ I just gotta keep walkin’”). Also featuring a haunting sample of “The Loving Touch” by Keith Mansfield, “Walkin” was later remixed with Memphis rapper Key Glock.

1. “CLOUT COBAIN | CLOUT CO13A1N”

Don’t do it for the clout. With a heavy irony, Denzel Curry’s hit single “CLOUT COBAIN” from 2018’s TA13OO about the toxic pursuit of popularity has become his biggest song yet. Invoking the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, the rapper weighs the cost of fame from outside and within across lines like, “People be thinkin’ that I won the lottery/ So paranoid, I don’t know who be plotting on me.” Thankfully, Curry brushes aside his doubts and detractors by insisting “I just wanna feel myself,” and years later, we’re all much better for it. The broody single also earned Curry his first RIAA platinum certification in 2020.

Tickets and VIP Packages for the Denzel Curry – Mischievous South Tour are available now on Ticketmaster.