The genre of hip hop continues to standout because many of its artist’s have the ability to think outside of the box. Many emcees have helped pushed boundaries and has consistently kept the genre fresh and exciting. Names like Wu-Tang, NWA, and Outkast come up when discussing the big influencers in rap history. This decade has seen new names make groundbreaking works, such as Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Kendrick Lamar’s two masterworks, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and To Pimp A Butterfly. Although those albums are rightfully regarded as the best the decade has to offer, there’s a commonly overlooked work that deserves much more recognition than it currently received. Considering it’s unique production style, cryptic lyrics, and incredible impact on modern music, Death Grips’, The Money Store, stands as one of the most important hip hop releases this decade.
Producer Flatlander, drummer Zach Hill, and MC Ride make up Death Grips, who broke out onto the scene with the release of their 2011 mixtape, Exmilitary. Exmilitary’s instrumentation finds influence from rock, as many of the beats had MC Ride spitting flows over beats so obtuse in nature that at first listen, it repels the listener. Most of the tracks had this extremely abrasive instrumentation, but a track called “Guillotine”, the mixtape’s lead single, left the audience craving for more. “Guillotine” has the closest resemblance to the production of The Money Store.
Whereas Exmilitary found influence in punk rock and rap rock, The Money Store is an album rooted in hip hop. The first track “Get Got” features a synthetic beat with distorted drums and synced flows from MC Ride. The first track, although the softest on the record, provided a good taste for what was to come. The rest of the album relied less on guitars and more on synthesizers. Although the band still provided the album with typical glitches, this more friendly sound still remained groundbreaking. No one making music was making this type of experimental hip hop, which ultimately led for many within the music industry, and outsiders to turn heads.
Equally as important as the production, MC Ride’s lyricism complemented the unsettling yet immediate beats perfectly. MC Ride’s style of writing is very cryptic, but he tackles similar hip hop themes such as dealing with haters, running from cops, and dealing with your surroundings. These sound like basic topics, yet what makes them stand out is the personal touch of MC Ride. “Cause I run this lik / Like downtown ripped / That raw shit like none other / low down dirty shit / Shot off this hip / Death grips, mothafucka” (Bitch Please). “Fuck you starin' at? Didn't know I'd be so quick to flash, / Terrified by the way a basilisk come out him skin so fast / Not the first, won't be the last /Barrel of my gun down the hatch / ,187 deep throat chokin'/ Eat this forty-four magnum dick (up)” (The Cage). Lines like this perfectly encapsulate MC Ride’s identity as a writer, showcasing the rapper’s cryptic style juxtaposed with imagery putting the worst of mankind on full display.
Ride’s lyricism may be a reason to stick with The Money Store, but the hooks are the reason listeners stay. There will be at least one hook that will resonate with listener on The Money Store, each one complemented with MC Ride’s lyrical genius. Writing out a hook from The Money Store would do no justice. Flatlander does a fantastic job this time around slightly warping the sound of Death Grips into something a little more presentable, and nowhere else is that more clear than with the hooks. Many hooks on Exmilitary showed promise and each is very good in their own right, but The Money Store simply refines that style, leading to an absolutely twisted album getting stuck inside the listener’s head.
When the album dropped about four years ago, not even the band would be able to predict the influence that The Money Store would not only have on hip hop, but the music industry in its entirety. The album immediately turned heads when dropped in April 2012. Post release, artists like Tyler, The Creator, Jay Z, Björk, and Beyoncé have all expressed respect and admiration for the Death Grips and their unorthodox ways. Rock band, Kasabian, claimed their 2014 effort 48:13 drew inspiration from Death Grips. Perhaps the most interesting circumstance comes from Donny McClaslin, collaborator of David Bowie, who claimed the band to be a major influence on Bowie’s final release, Blackstar. The influence wasn’t just in other genres. The breakout success of The Money Store led to an increase in interest for a blend of experimental hip hop and industrial punk style, a blending of genres perfected by no one other than Death Grips.
Although The Money Store became the band’s breakthrough release, the win did not last.
Toward the end of 2012, Death Grips released their second album of that year NO LOVE DEEP WEB in October, which was against the wishes of Epic Records, their label. The act of defiance and the controversial cover art led to Death Grips being dropped from Epic. This only provided fuel for Death Grips, as it led to a huge increase in exposure. Since then, Death Grips have continued to release new music every year with the albums Government Plates, The Powers That B, and most recently, Bottomless Pit. Although every one of their albums provided a nice little twist to the formula, The Money Store still takes the spot as Death Grips’ greatest achievement so far. The act of mixing twisted lyricism, killer hooks, appealing synth, and pure abrasiveness into an album that’s hard to turn away from, will stand with the best pieces of hip hop throughout the decade.
