Going along with this creative choice led the two to develop the concept of an accompanying short film for the project. The film featured both live-action and animated segments. Stream ad-free with Amazon Music Unlimited on mobile, desktop, and tablet. "[4] Curry mentioned that "[Beats] cancelled everybody else’s sessions to dedicate time to this. As exciting as Curry is—to paraphrase an old chestnut about great singers, one could listen to him yell the phone book—the anchor here is producer Kenny Beats, whose tracks mix the feel of classic boom-bap with a sample-splattered approach that captures the tabs-open fever of now. "[3], After some time, people reached out to Curry to have him watch Freddie Gibbs' appearance on The Cave, a bi-weekly freestyle series hosted by and uploaded onto YouTube by Beats. He started rapping in 6th grade and frequently "[4] The two had a feud over one of these beats being used by another artist, after it was supposed to be featured on Curry's Zuu album, causing Curry to hate Beats for "months. But Kenny Beats' production isn't anything new. "[20] Salvatore Maicki of The Fader wrote that Unlocked is "a frenetic and saturated endeavor into two minds at the top of their game," singling out the track "DIET_" as the EP's "most savage peak. Download our mobile app now. [13] Curry and Beats intentionally chose to have a lack of singles for the project. All tracks written by Denzel Curry, and produced by Kenny Beats. [14] Trey Alston of MTV wrote that "Unlocked (the soundtrack) has eight tracks that range from angry, futuristic screaming bars to mid-'90s, boom-bap, DMX-like snarling that Curry's clearly having a good time doing. Unlocked (stylized in all caps) is the third extended play (EP) by American rapper Denzel Curry, released on February 7, 2020, by PH Recordings and Loma Vista Recordings. As Curry pushes himself to the creative edge on standouts "Diet_" and "Lay_Up.m4a," Kenny Beats delivers menacing production that blends throwback sampling techniques and addictive, head-nodding beats. Although Unlocked concludes almost as soon as it starts, Curry and Kenny pack so much into this short release that repeat listens are a must and, indeed, a pleasure. Twelve'len & GoldLink) [Love Below Remixes]. [8] Portions of the animated visuals were done in claymation. Upgrade. In the summer of 2019, months after the release of his critically acclaimed album Zuu, Florida emcee Denzel Curry joined producer Kenny Beats on his online freestyle show, The Cave. [5][7], Stereogum and Complex reported that the recording session lasted three days. Editors’ Notes While there were no singles released prior to the EP, an accompanying short film was released on February 6.