By Marcus Norris
Denzel Curry is a Florida artist that you may have heard about before. If you remember in 2016, there was a viral trend with one of his songs named, “Ultimate”. From this, you would think that Denzel is only a “pop rapper”.The song we’re reviewing today disproves that.

Denzel Curry photo credit: Adrian Villa Gomez
“Walkin.”
This song should be seen as the first step in a healing process. Denzel starts the song off by saying that he’s walking with his back to the sun, signifying that he’s walking away from light and headed into darkness, while still looking into the sky. Think about your first few therapy sessions. You have to “walk” to a darker place of your mind, while keeping your head up and knowing this will help you. It’s par for the course on a healing journey! You also talk about the systematic issues and the socioeconomic issues in the world when you don’t want to talk about yourself. Then… you get comfortable.
Verse 2.
Denzel keeps on walking, and he understands that there are few options for his homeboys, so they resort to robbin’ people and scammin’ people. He is still walking with his back to the sun, but he’s becoming more introspective. He’s talking about how he’s been running all his life, feeling like he’s been running even before life! He says he is the first person in his family to break generational curses and confront them. He uses weed as an escape, but it makes him see things vividly, and he decides to go to therapy.
“Ain’t No Use, You Gotta WALK!”.
This might be my favorite part of the entire song. After he describes therapy as “raw and real”, and talks about how he is becoming emotionally vulnerable in therapy, he has this moment where he says, “Ain’t no use, you gotta walk!” To me, this signifies moving when you need to move. He later says that he walked away from women, friendships, and even money, due to feeling indifferent and needing more in his life. Knowing when to walk away from certain things and people is also part of the healing journey.
Overall.
I shamelessly love this song! This is a modern take on the healing journey, and I think it’s evergreen. There will be (or has been) a time in our lives when we feel we need to heal and change. I love “Walkin” because it encapsulates those times and feelings within 5 minutes. Denzel becoming more abrasive in the second verse as changes take hold is real, too. Once those changes start, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, and he demonstrates that so well. Check it out, and remember to keep on walkin’!