Bonnaroo 2022 Artist Spotlight: Denzel Curry

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2022 lineup. And, for the first time in three years, we finally feel confident that there definitely will be a Bonnaroo this year, after a postponement then cancelation in 2020 due to Covid, and an unfortunate rainout of last year’s would-be September event. Returned to its traditional timeframe of June 16-19, this marks Bonnaroo’s 21st summer and 19th installment, and features a largely new lineup for the festival’s much-anticipated return!

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

LEARN

Raised in Carol City, Florida, just outside of Miami, rapper Denzel Curry was drawn to music and poetry as a child, and began battle rapping at his local Boys & Girls Club, eventually releasing his first mixtape at just 16, and subsequently joining fellow underground Florida rapper SpaceGhostPurrp’s hip hop collective Raider Klan. And exiting the group and while still in high school, Curry dropped his debut studio album, Nostalgic 64, in 2013, inspired by greats like Outkast and Tupac, earning the young artist critical acclaim and online buzz. A couple years later and thanks to punk-spirited single “Ultimate,” Denzel began to break into the mainstream, amassing millions of streams and viral success, continuing across a viral output of EPs and albums, until 2018 third full-length, TA13OO, became the rapper’s biggest hit to that point; a dark, conceptual, intense, emotional, and confessional work boosted by huge single “CLOUT COBAIN.” He’s not exactly an emo rapper, though his earnest thematic tendencies certainly fit in with that side of hip hip, nor is he quite a punk rapper, though much of his work is certainly colored by that spirit and tenacity, and he regularly links up not just with his peers in hip hop, but also with genre-benders like Yungblood and Thundercat. This year’s fifth LP, Melt My Eyez See Your Future, marks Curry’s most focused, confident, and polished work to date, and feels like a perfect summation of his more than decade’s worth of prior efforts, funneling his flair for southern hip hop into old school influences, conceptual themes, contemporary underground tones, and even a western flair, packed with stellar guests and drawing widespread critical acclaim. In 2018, Denzel absolutely brought the house down at ‘Roo, and we can only imagine how turned up this late night set will be; don’t skip it!

WATCH | “Walkin” (Official Video)