I feel its only fitting that I write about Death Grips for my first blog post so here we go.

Death Grips find themselves with a unique sound both in mainstream hip-hop / rap as well as their contemporaries in experimental hip-hop. Zach Hill’s technical and overwhelming drumming, MC Ride’s wailing and cryptic lyricism, and production that is soaked in distressing sounds all layer together to form a sound unlike other experimental groups which usually have one foot in traditional hip-hop. MC Ride himself describes their sound best on the track Guillotine:

Out of the shadows barrage of witch tongue
Cobra spit over apocalyptic cult killer cauldron smoke
Stomp music seriously

Death Grips tracks are packed front to back with metaphor soaked verses like this, and while the metaphors above are quite simple to digest and analyse when reading them off Genius, Death Grips obscures their lyrics behind their abrasive sound. The manner in which these metaphors reach your ears is almost as important as the content itself. Typical Death Grips tracks often discuss themes of addiction, depression, drug use, and violence; these themes become apparent not due to the lyrics alone. A common line I hear in reaction to first listens to Death Grips is usually along the lines of “This makes me want to bash my head into the wall”, a likely intentional effect. Death Grips taps into the destructive and sometimes empowering urge to do bad things.

The trap that people fall into when listening to Death Grips is misunderstanding their crypticness and abrasiveness for depth. Despite the initial shock of their tracks, the structure backing up their music falls into a very familiar verse chorus pattern found in most genres of music. This familiar structure allows their songs to become very easy to listen to over time, and also act as a point of familiarity for people coming into their music fresh. This combined with their ever evolving sound rewards long time listeners of their music by allowing a re-living of that first time your friend put on the music video for Guillotine.

Due to this, Death Grips ends up being Fisher-Price avant garde. Instead of seeking to cause legitimate discomfort in those who listen by a removal of points of familiarity, it leans very heavily on a familiar verse chorus pattern to achieve the musical equivalent of a jump scare filled horror movie: Loud noises and sudden changes. This doesn’t mean Death Grips (or horror movies) aren’t able to provide a meaningful commentary on the themes they choose to discuss or create a fun and unique experience. It’s important to appreciate any art for what it is, and assigning Death Grips praise because they are cutting edge and innovative is misguided. Death Grips are worthy of praise for creating an accessible environment for listeners of more dialed in music to explore concepts outside of what they might usually explore. Death Grips accesses emotions that few other artists do, and they do an amazing job of it, but they aren’t from bleeding edge innovators .

Despite a lack of significant musical development and innovation, Death Grips has certainly left their mark on the musical world. Experimental hip-hop is flourishing due to their influence and they will likely be remembered for their impact for years. As much as I can complain about how Death Grips aren’t really that original and sound like a pompous asshole, they make good music that I regularly listen to and talk about, and you should too. Check out their 2012 album The Money Store if you haven’t already you’ll have a good time.

-Harris