2022 HipHopDX Rising Star Duke Deuce has been busy cooking up new music in the studio since the release of his debut album Duke Nukem last February, and fans can rejoice now that the wait will soon be over. Last week, the Memphis native unleashed a trailer for his upcoming album Crunkstar, revealing the project’s imminent release date.
The minute-long video opens with Deuce lighting a match while he speaks on his uphill journey to becoming a rapper. The clip pairs Deuce’s monologue with archival footage and photos of him as a child, going to prom and being hospitalized after a car accident.
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“It’s all about the come-up,” he reflects. “It’s been a long way from Memphis, Tennessee — Black Haven, to be exact — to being the king of crunk. They was always sleeping on me, but I always knew I was hard. Even when life hit me, I hit that shit back.
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“Now the whole world is about to know I ain’t no trap star, I ain’t no rockstar — I’m a crunk star,” he concludes as he tosses the lit match onto a collection of electric guitars. Out of the fire emerges Duece’s Crunkstar release date: June 17.
To make the rollout even better, Duke Deuce took to Instagram on Sunday (June 12) to announce he’ll be hosting an album release party for Crunkstar at Rare House in Los Angeles on June 18.
The flyer features the album’s official cover, which depicts a cartoon version of the Quality Control representative sitting on his rightful crunk throne.
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Last month, Duke Deuce ramped up excitement for Crunkstar by dropping the music video for his single “CRUNKSTARZ.” The visual finds the 30-year-old working the crowd during a show in an abandoned warehouse as he flips between melodies and straight bars.
“Duke Deuce, homie, how it feel?/N-gga can’t complain it’s a good year/Living like a crunkstar it feel so real/Rolling loud crowd really give a n-gga chills,” he raps on the energetic song.
