Death Grips

Well, this is officially post numero 3-0-0, so here's a thank you for sticking with me. You asked for them, here they are. They've been one of the most requested bands, which is surprising for a predominantly punk/emo blog,  although that could be a testament to the universal appeal of their music. So, here you go. I fuck the music.

Death Grips are a three-piece experimental hip-hop group hailing from Sacramento, California, and formed in late 2010. They were created by drummer Zach Hill, who was known for his other group Hella, his solo work, and his work with others, such as Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Wavves, and a ton of others. In addition to Hill, Andy Morin (who became known as "Flatlander") handled production/keyboards, and rapper Stefan Burnett ("MC Ride") rounded off the trio.

They quickly released a 6-song EP, which was followed by a 13-song mixtape. This is where all eyes were suddenly on them. The dark, aggressive, and industrial sound of Death Grips had been virtually unheard of (maybe with the exceptions of Dälek or B L A C K I E). Regardless, Exmilitary was released to critical acclaim, and attracted fans across the musical spectrum. Along comes 2012, and that's when everything in the Death Grips universe went crazy, and has stayed that way ever since. They signed to Epic Records and released The Money Store, which garnered mass amounts of attention, and for good reason. They're just as experimental and aggressive as on their past efforts, and are still not shy about creating shrill noises, laser-beam electronics, and off-kilter beats. Lyrically, they continue to explore the darkest parts of the human psyche within their digital dystopia, which are best heard through the drill-sergeant assault of MC Ride. All the while they show that they can still create some killer hooks too.

Following The Money Store, a whole lot of shit went down, to say the least. There's been a series of leaked albums, cryptic messages, break-ups, cancelled tours, mysterious re-emergences, label disputes, it goes on and on. If it can be summarized briefly, they leaked their next album, made the cover a close-up penis, got dropped from said label, and then they were no-shows at a lot of their own shows. They put out another album (with Robert Pattinson playing guitar for one track), planned a tour with Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden, and then cancelled it. They announced the release of a double-album (The Powers That B), and then announced their break-up. The first half of it, titled Niggas On The Moon, was released, and featured a collaborative sample of Björk on every track. Months later, they randomly drop a free album of instrumentals titled Fashion Week, with tracks that spell out "JENNY DEATH WHEN", since the name of the second half of The Powers That B is Jenny Death. At long last, it is released, and Death Grips are suddenly back together and planning a tour (stay tuned for the cancellation). Needless to say, Death Grips have been busy for the past few years, and that's not even getting into the smaller details. 

Death Grips have certainly been one of the most notable acts to emerge in modern music, which of course leads to some interesting opinions on them. I'm sure they've piqued a lot of interest in fans of the more aggressive side of this blog, thus the requests. To anyone new to them though, you are in for something different, that's for sure. If you're looking to listen to them, definitely start with The Money Store. If you like the aggressive, vocal/lyrical side with strong hooks, go to Exmilitary after. If you want more instrumental experimentation, and some really unique sounds, go to Government Plates. If you're looking for a nice hybrid of both, No Love Deep Web is the way to go. As for The Powers That B, the more accessible side is definitely Jenny Death, and fans of their early work will certainly be into it. Niggas On The Moon is very unstructured and noisy, which is incredibly interesting, especially in contrast to Jenny Death. I also included all their other officially released material, which is basically their EP, Fashion Week, and some singles. There are a ton of instrumental excerpts, remixes, unmastered versions and such of their music online, so if anyone would be interested in anything like that, let me know. They're also pretty easy to find if you wanted to go looking for them yourself. Either way, I hope you enjoy.

Death Grips (2011)

1. Death Grips (Next Grips)

2. Full Moon (Death Classic)

3. Takyon (Death Yon)

4. Known for it (Freak Grips)

5. Where's it at (Death Heated)

6. Face Melter (How to do impossible things)

Exmilitary (2011)

1. Beware

2. Guillotine

3. Spread Eagle Cross the Block

4. Lord Of The Game (ft. Mexican Girl)

5. Takyon (Death Yon)

6. Cut Throat (Instrumental)

7. Klink

8. Culture Shock

9. 5D

10. Thru The Walls

11. Known For It

12. I Want It I Need It (Death Heated)

13. Blood Creepin'

Live From Death Valley (2011)

1. Poser Killer

2. Fyrd Up

The Money Store (2012)

1. Get Got

2. The Fever (Aye Aye)

3. Lost Boys

4. Blackjack

5. Hustle Bones

6. I've Seen Footage

7. Double Helix

8. System Blower

9. The Cage

10. Punk Weight

11. Fuck That

12. Bitch Please

13. Hacker

Adult Swim Singles Program (2012)

13. @DEATHGRIPZ

No Love Deep Web (2012)

1. Come up and get me

2. Lil Boy

3. No Love

4. Black Dice

5. World of Dogs

6. Lock your doors

7. Whammy

8. Hunger games

9. Deep Web

10. Stockton

11. Pop

12. Bass rattle stars out the sky

13. Artificial death in the west

DxDG (2013)

1. Intro

2. Come Up And Get Me

3. Get Got

4. Taykon (Death Yon)

5. Guillotine

6. No Love

7. The Fever (Aye Aye)

8. I've Seen Footage

9. Lock Your Doors + Outro

Note: This is a live bootleg from their SXSW set

Government Plates (2013)

1. You Might Think He Loves You For Your Money But I Know What He Really Loves You For It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat

2. Anne Bonny

3. Two Heavens

4. This Is Violence Now (Don't Get Me Wrong)

5. Birds

6. Feels like a wheel

7. Im Overflow

8. Big House

9. Government Plates

10. Bootleg (Dont need your help)

11. Whatever I want (Fuck who's watching)

Niggas On The Moon (2014)

1. Up My Sleeves

2. Billy Not Really

3. Black Quarterback

4. Say Hey Kid

5. Have A Sad Cum BB

6. Fuck Me Out

7. Voila

8. Big Dipper

Note: This is Disc 1 of The Powers That B

Fashion Week (2015)

1. Runway J

2. Runway E

3. Runway N

4. Runway N

5. Runway Y

6. Runway D

7. Runway E

8. Runway A

9. Runway T

10. Runway H

11. Runway W

12. Runway H

13. Runway E

15. Runway N

Jenny Death (2015)

1. I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States

2. Inanimate Sensation

3. Turned Off

4. Why A Bitch Gotta Lie

5. Pss Pss

6. The Powers That B

7. Beyond Alive

8. Centuries Of Damn

9. On GP

10. Death Grips 2.0

Note: This is Disc 2 of The Powers That B

Interview 2016 (2016)

1. Interview A

2. Interview B

3. Interview C

4. Interview D

5. Interview E

6. Interview F

Bottomless Pit (2016)

1. Giving Bad People Good Ideas

2. Hot Head

3. Spikes

4. Warping

5. Eh

6. Bubbles Buried In This Jungle

7. Trash

8. Houdini

9. BB Poison

10. Three Bedrooms In a Good Neighborhood

11. Ring A Bell

12. 8080808

13. Bottomless Pit

Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) (2017)

1. Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix)

Year Of The Snitch (2018)

1. Death Grips Is Online

2. Flies

3. Black Paint

4. Linda's In Custody

5. The Horn Section

6. Hahaha

7. Shitshow

8. Streaky

9. Dilemma

10. Little Richard

11. The Fear

12. Outro

13. Disappointed

Gmail And The Restraining Orders (2021)

1. Gmail And The Restraining Orders

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