Retirement and hip-hop have a tricky relationship — after all, which rapper hasn’t chewed on the possibility of calling it quits and riding off into the sunset? For , the thoughts of bowing out gracefully have already started circling, as revealed during an in-depth interview with XXL. 

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Explaining that he foresees “three more albums” before his exeunt from the game, Curry makes it clear that his perspectives and goals have changed significantly. “I’m not trying to hold onto the same thing that I was holding onto when I was 16,” he tells the publication. “You know, trying to make the same thing over and over.” Clearly, he values the album as a means of expression, one with worth beyond simple streaming numbers.

As he tells it, his mentality derives from a love of film and art, two mediums he seeks to explore further upon his “retirement” from rapping. “I always liked my album short,” he explains. “Ten tracks is enough. Enough to listen to. I just want you to enjoy my music the way you enjoy a film, you know? “Like it’s meant to be consumed that way. It’s not meant to be like fast food. It’s meant to be like, damn, what did I just have? A full course meal.”

While it would certainly be sad to see Denzel Curry leave the game entirely, at least we can take solace in knowing that his next three albums will be meticulously crafted. “I want to actually use real instruments,” he teases. “The last two albums were in short time frames. So, this one, I’m going to really sit down and take my time to do it.”

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