Death Grips:
Government Plates – Review

It’s really hard to describe and understand the entity that we know as Death Grips, as a matter of fact I think we won’t never understand (not fully, at least). Starting by the sound – they have been described, since their debut, the 2011’s mixtape Exmilitary, as being a hip hop act but there are so many elements thrown into the mix, like industrial and experimental, that made half of the hip hop fans to deny Death Grips any real association with the genre – and ending in the very controversial moves of the trio.

But let’s start by talking about all the bold and controversial moves that Death Grips have been making in this three years of existence.

1st: The album cover (sexually explicit) of their second full-lenght, No Love Deep Web. Due to the explicit album artwork, Death Grips were forced to place a disclaimer on their website warning of the explicit content. The statement from the group said “U.S law states you must be 18 years of age to view graphic sexual material. We consider this art.”

2nd: They have leaked their album, No Love Deep Web, without the authorization of the label, the major Epic. They said “The label wouldn’t confirm a release date for NO LOVE DEEP WEB ’till next year sometime” and because of that they announce “The label will be hearing the album for the first time with you”.. But like that wasn’t enough, the band also released the email that Epic sent to them after the album’s leak… They have shown the email saying in a very eloquent way: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOW FUCK OFF“.

3rd: In May of this year they have cancelled all scheduled shows. They were schedule to play in the Lollapalooza festival and instead they decided to put a fan’s suicide note with their music (pre-recorded) in the background

SUBJECT: ready DATE: July 9

I am ready to take my own life. Many bad experiences led me to this dark void that I am locked in. Maybe by my own hands? I don’t really care anymore. I just wanted to say thank you for showing me the other side. the side that is locked away deep inside a person. I am mad. Mad all the time and depressed all the time. I can’t take it. I’m not afraid of dying but i am afraid that I can’t hear DG in the after life if there is such a thing. I don’t know, but I hope your music transcends to the unknown. A place where DG’s essence exists. A place where art exists. I love art. That’s the one thing that kept me alive? this long. So just to ease minds, DG didn’t “influence” me to do this. this is my own fucking choice. but thanks for making my life a little better. you’re my absolute fave and I will fight the gods if they don’t allow me to follow DG’s efforts can’t see Earth. Anyways, continue doing great things. I love you Stefan, Zach, and Andy.

I will be watching.

-AJJ

4th: They have released their their record, this Government Plates, without warning anyone. They simply leaked the album for free when it was supposed to drop sometime next year.

And why I started by mentioning all those things in this article that’s supposed to be a simple review of the new Death Grips’ album? Because I consider all those facts to be essential to understand, just a little bit, what’s going on in this record and to understand why this band is so essential, so important for the current music scene and why this album is perfect and if there’s some justice in this shitty world then 10-20 years from now, many people will look back and say “DAMN!”

The album starts with the sound a breaking glass what it’s a nice tip to what the album allow us to experience through out the eleven track on it. True is: Government Plates it’s not an easy album to be experienced. After listening to this record 30+ times I can admit that if I stay with him more than three times in a row things starts to get really weird… But I guess that’s why this is such a magic record. The darkness in it is so fucking tangible that you can feel it. Basically this record just brings you down. Not only we have MC Ride spitting his lyrics about how fucked up things are and how he deals with his inner-demons (most of it, all drugs related), but we also have the depressive input of Flatlander‘s keyboards – that shit on the first track, You may think he loves you for your money…, is like an open invitation to put a handful of pills down in our fucking throat – which is accompanied, in an intelligent way, by Zach Hill’s drumming – the drums on Two Heavens will blow your fucking mind.

And what about the lyrics? Well, we have MC Ride saying “freelance motherfucker“, in the opening track, that can be the band’s reply to the all Epic related issues; him talking about his inner-demons on Anne Bonny “my scabs under my fingernails, cant help myself dont wanna feel myself“; “all i need is my fix, fuck your idols suck my dick” on Two Heavens; This is Violence Now (Don’t get me wrong), just to make things clear; “i got higher, i got fake” on Birds,because of all the criticism they have received in these last two years for all their actions; “i dont need your help” on Bootleg (Don’t need your help), just clear things out; and the suggestive title of the ending track, Whatever I want (Fuck who’s watching)

It seems (conjectures only) that Death Grips is trying to clear everything up and explain that this is their game and they will play how they want, when they want… No matter what.

This album is playing in the fucking left field and that’s why ,probably, many people are having problems to recognize this as being a perfect, our at least almost-perfect, album… Ohh, and people that are offended by all the things that Death Grips have done in the past and decide to fuck them in reviews because they don’t have the balls to admit they are upset with the band’s acts. Sure, everyone loves punk and the all outrageous and “fuck off” attitudes, but when comes the time when we have one of the most punk bands of all time saying “We don’t care. Fuck the label. Fuck the fans. Fuck the world”, then people get scarred and runaway.

Ohh, and saying that the problem of this record is the absence of MC Ride’s vocals is just playing dumb. Fuck you for coming up with such a lame excuse.

Government Plates is one of the best records of the year (best of the year for me) and not only is capable of fuck with the listener’s head but is yet another project that confirms Death Grips as being one of the most essential acts of today’s music scene. I know that are many people upset with them but you know what? You deserve it, you piece of shit… Stop trying to sell art like we were dealing with candies. Stop selling all the art as being just a simple act of entertaining. Fuck your shitty lobbies and the damage that they have done to the music scene. And, fuck you! Hail Death Grips! Hail Government Plates!

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