Reading Festival 2024: Denzel Curry talks ‘King of the Mischievous South, Vol. 2’ and cancelling his show with KoRn

Denzel Curry has spoken to NME about his latest album ‘King of the Mischievous South, Vol. 2’ and opened up about the decision to cancel his massive London show with KoRn last week.

Catching up with NME backstage at Reading Festival 2024, the Floridian rapper also teased details about his long-awaited comic book Hell Trials, which he first told us about in a 2022 cover story.

‘Vol. 2’, released on July 19, is a sequel to Curry’s 2012 mixtape ‘King of the Mischievous South, Vol. 1’. The new record features a host of rappers, such as TiaCorine and 2Chainz, who hail from the American South, a region Curry has always been outspoken about representing.

NME: Hi Denzel! So, why go back to the ‘Mischievous South’ more than 10 years after ‘Vol.1’?

Denzel Curry: “When I was making the project, I wasn’t even thinking about the name being that. When it came down to project being completed, my manager said, ‘Yo, everything’s tight about this, but you just gotta change the name.’

“Originally, it was called ‘13lood In 13lood Out Reloaded’ ‘cause I was making another ‘13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT’ after the [2020] mix I done. He said: ‘This doesn’t sound like ‘13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT’. I was like, ‘Oh! You wanna name this ‘Volume 2’ of the ‘Mischievous South Volume 1’.'”

You kinda make these sound like action movie franchises or something

“[Laughs] I wouldn’t say it’s like a franchise because I don’t really like doing part twos to anything. This one was an exception, but maybe in the future we’ll do a part two to something else.”

Perhaps there was something in the ether that made you want to go back to this world, even if you weren’t conscious of it at the time?

“I mean, I was trying to do this album several different times, but they all turned into something else. That’s why it wasn’t able to get off the ground prior, but it got off the ground 12 years later, which is very symbolic.”

The album features many awesome Southern rappers. You must have been conscious of shining a light on part of the States…

“Yeah, of course, because when I did the first ‘King of the Mischievous South’, a lot of them did come from the South – the majority of them came from Miami, North Carolina or Virginia. And when it came down to this one, you got people from Georgia, you got people from Texas, you got people from North Carolina, you got people from… erm… what do you call it? Florida! [Laughs] You even had people from Tennessee, from Memphis. And the people that weren’t from the South, they had something that was directly related to me in some way. It was like blending the old with the new.”

The album notably features A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg…

“Having A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg on there is a callback to, ‘OK, in 2012, we used to have beef with them when I was in [his former collective] Raider Clan’, so having them on the tape, it just brings everything full-circle.”

Was that healing?

“I mean, it’s supposed to [be]!”

Do you think your music could only come from that part of the South, and perhaps Florida in particular?

“Yeah, Florida really is a world within itself because you got several different parts, and the part I’m from [Miami Gardens], it’s like a melting pot. You have people that’s Caribbean, or South American… You got people that’s Dominican, Bahamian, Haitian, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan. You just got too many varieties down there.”

This is your second time playing Reading & Leeds Festival. What’s your relationship with the festival?

“The first time I played it was two years ago, and I brought a kid on to do ‘Ultimate’. They showed out! Both cities – Reading and Leeds. Willow Smith played that year!”

You were supposed to support KoRn at the 40,000-capacity Gunnersbury Park in London last week, but had to cancel as you were losing your voice. Was that a hard decision to come to?

“Yeah, because they were trying to see if I could still do the show. I was like, I can’t. It was a choice: try to do the show and mess up my voice even worse and I can’t tour, or skip the show and rebuild my voice so I can tour and then come back here.”

Was it a big deal for you to be supporting KoRn? We know you love your metal…

“Of course it was a big deal! I grew up listening to their music. I was down to do it – and then when it happened, I just couldn’t talk.”

You talked in your 2022 NME cover story about your plans to branch out into film, TV and even comic books. Any updates there?

“I mean, yeah – I’m drawing this comic book right now…”

Hell Trials!

“Yeah, Hell Trials. I can’t tell you the story because I’d much rather it be completed and then I’ll put it out, but Hell Trials is still in the works right now. I’m finishing up this last volume so I can put all the volumes together and make it a graphic novel.”

So it’s coming!

“Yeah, for sure. It might be next year!”

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