So, who are Death Grips? What's all the hype about around this band? Well, for one thing, they're one of the weirdest hip-hip duos the world has ever seen. Here's an entry level guide to the Internet's beloved alternative rap group.
So, here's the low down — Death Grips is made up of rapper Stefan Burnett (more commonly known by his stage name MC Ride) and drummer Zach Hill. Together they make music that’s somewhere between noise music, experimental rap and intense screaming. Regardless of how unappealing that sounds, the crowd loves them.
When asked to describe Death Grips in three words, fans responded with:
“Heavy afro-futuristic jams”
“Angry art project”
“Teen hell music”
“Something else entirely”
And that basically sums it up.
So what makes them weird? Well, they’ve been together since 2010 and they didn’t catch a lot of attention until around 2012 or 2013 — it wasn’t until they put a photo of male genitals, clearly taken in a bathroom, on the cover of their album “No Love Deep Web” that they got into the spotlight.
Epic Records told Death Grips that they wouldn’t release the album with explicit cover art. As a result, the duo leaked their own album anyway, and they were immediately dropped from the label. There’s less of a story than you would think behind the cover. This album wasn’t just some sort of prank — they’re completely serious about their art.
Burnett said in an interview with Spin magazine, “I looked at it and said, 'this is a great photo, and I'd love for this to be the album cover.’”
Aside from that, they are notorious for not showing up to shows, particularly Lollapalooza 2013, where they were booked, decided not to show up and were then replaced with Shaun White’s band. Needless to say, fans were furious.
Is it performance art? Who knows, but it seems like they love to make people mad. In fact, once they hit their peak popularity and started getting the attention they deserve last summer, Death Grips announced their break up on July 2 and canceled all their upcoming shows.
Like a horrible ex-girlfriend, they’ve kept their fans on the hook by releasing a music video and a surprise album “Fashion Week (Instrumentals)” Jan. 4.
A great place to start with Death Grips is their 2012 album “The Money Store.” This is by far their most popular album, and it’s less intense than some of their other stuff. As a whole, the album sounds like a fully-equipped rock band, despite the fact that no one in Death Grips plays a guitar. Songs like “I’ve Seen Footage” and “Get Got” make for an easy introduction — there’s a reason those are their most played songs on Spotify.
On the other hand, someone looking for a lot of electronic sounds, screaming and intense beats should go straight for “Exmilitary.” This mix tape came out for free in 2011 and is still some of their best work. This is what people think of when they think of Death Grips — check out songs like “5d,” which is a 43-second long, instrumental loop of a catchy beat, or “Klink” which samples bands Black Flag and The Castaways.
Other notable songs include “No Love,” the partially self-titled song off “No Love Deep Web,” which was featured during a drug trip on the Netflix series “BoJack Horseman.”
All and all, don’t be intimidated by the yelling — Death Grips might seem intense at first, but they’re actually pretty addicting after a while. If you need the type of music to pump you up before a run or an underground fight club, you’ve found your band.