There’s an old adage that less is more. In music, it sees artists like developing trim discographies, then sitting back to let the mythos take hold. and don’t seem to truck with that – an incandescent rap force, Denzel has worked across a plethora of collaborative and solo projects in the past 18 months, while Kenneth Blume is one of the most in-demand producers around. Remarkably, that frenetic burst of activity has only served to sharpen their skills – ‘ii’ is a phenomenal hip-hop rollercoaster ride, its concise span masking an informational-overload approach that grants it endless replay value.

Arresting from the start, ‘GONE FISHING’ is stacked sonically, while Denzel goes for the jugular right from the off. The two are perfectly in-sync, and there’s a punk-like sense of defiance as they up-end norms, and confound fans. ‘CANDLELIGHT’ is bruising but engaging, ‘UPS’ has a lilting swagger to it, and ‘COLD NIGHT IN HELL’ is imposing, with Kenneth flipping a soul sample amid Denzel’s boast that he’s “not a celebrity / I’m a psycho with a microphone…”

At a mere nine tracks there’s not a lot of room for guests, but each feature is incredibly well chosen – lights up the devilish ‘EVIL GRIN’, is on-point across ‘CROWN’ and closer ‘DIFFERENCE’ is illuminated by . Each add their own spice to the mixture.

A cavalcade of ideas, ‘ii’ feels so much more impactful and prescient than its 24 minute span might suggest. Denzel Curry has rarely rapped hard, packing word upon word into his explosive flows. The re-named Kenneth Blume – he dropped the Kenny Beats soubriquet a while back – works like a man with a point to prove, the luminescent beats carving out pathways between the past and the future.

Even amid their own glittering discographies ‘ii’ feels like a high point – it’s compact, sure, but it’s also fully developed, and incredibly impactful. Funny, biting, and seethingly intelligent, it feels like two generational artists throwing down the gauntlet to their peers.

8/10