The high praise for The Money Store was my introduction to Death Grips. Like many, my first listen was confusing and off-putting. Despite their passionate fanbase, I doubted I could ever join them. I was unsure if I even liked it, so I searched for a detailed breakdown of what I’d just experienced. Unlike readily available guides for artists like Kendrick Lamar or Frank Ocean, I found only confused fan posts struggling to grasp the album’s meaning.
Now, many consider The Money Store a contender for the greatest album ever. This analysis aims to explain why.
Contents:
Death Grips consists of Zach Hill, Stefan Burnett (Ride), and Andy Morin, originating from Sacramento, California. The Money Store, released in 2012, was their major label debut and breakthrough, achieving both popularity and critical acclaim. It followed their first full-length release, Exmilitary, and preceded No Love Deep Web (NØ LØV∑ D∑∑P W∏B) later that year, forming a trilogy they consider a unified body of work.
Epic Records (Sony Music Entertainment) initially published the album on March 24, 2012, leaking to YouTube on March 14th. Since leaving Epic, Death Grips has independently re-released it on vinyl. It’s their most critically acclaimed project, consistently scoring around 8/10. YouTube music reviewer Anthony Fantano famously gave it his first 10/10, often credited with popularizing the group. It was the first of four Death Grips albums to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at #130 in its opening week. They supported the release with five shows, including Coachella 2012, though a larger tour was cancelled to finish No Love Deep Web. Touring resumed in October 2012, supporting both albums. The album runs for approximately 41 minutes and features 13 tracks:
- Get Got
- The Fever (Aye Aye)
- Lost Boys
- Blackjack
- Hustle Bones
- I’ve Seen Footage
- Double Helix
- System Blower
- The Cage
- Punk Weight
- Fuck That
- Bitch Please
- Hacker
Analysis Abstract
The Money Store is highly conceptual, figurative, and abstract, drawing from Modernism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Cubism, Psychedelia, Pop Art, and Punk. Lyrically, it explores violence, occultism, crime, mental health, counterculture, popular culture, nihilism, individualism, hedonism, and libertinism. These themes are presented through vignette-style mini-narratives, offering an extremely subjective, anarchic, and harsh interpretation of reality. Shifting perspectives establish the group’s stance, ultimately championing individuality against the world’s dark and dangerous aspects.
“These songs were conceptualized in all these weird, random ways. We approach music almost like musique concrète: We’re sampling our day-to-day along with the filthiest things off of YouTube and trying to build powerful music out of all this stuff that’s usually seen as trash.”– Zach Hill for Pitchfork
Cover Artwork: Decoding The Money Store’s Visuals
The Money Store boasts striking album artwork:
tms-1200
The illustration, taken from a zine by artist Sua Yoo, also influenced the band’s visual work, notably the instrumental release Fashion Week. Death Grips clarified the cover’s meaning in a Pitchfork interview:
“On the cover you have an androgynous masochist on the leash of a feminist sadist who’s smoking. The sadist has carved Death Grips into her bitch’s chest. There is an overly confident quality to the woman smoking and a calmness to the androgynous masochist.”– Death Grips for Pitchfork
The group aimed for a cover embodying the “progressive and edge ideology” inspiring their music, representing their “views on sexuality and modern society.” They elaborated:
“We consider ourselves feminists, we fiercely support homosexuality, transparent world leadership, and the idea of embracing yourself as an individual in any shape or form. Acceleration is a mantra, we’re not a political band, we are freaks and outsiders. It was important to project that message and energy through the artwork of this album. This is free thinking and eternally open-ended music… [The cover] is like an ambassador to the sound.”– Death Grips for Pitchfork
Deeper connections exist, such as compositional similarities to the High Priestess and The Devil Tarot cards, linking to future Death Grips releases and esoteric themes. Stefan’s lyrics and tattoos, like the Baphomet symbol, Necronomicon Gate, and Haitian Vodou Veve, further establish occult and esoteric themes.
The album title itself sparks speculation. Its oxymoronic nature might lampoon capitalism, aligning tangentially with some lyrics. However, the most direct link to The Money Store title comes from Sacramento’s Ziggurat building:
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“What’s the most comically ugly building in Sacramento? There is the Ziggurat building in Sacramento, it is designed like a giant stepped pyramid. It’s an amazing building, it used to be the headquarters of a loan company called The Money Store.”– Death Grips for L.A. Record
This Sacramento landmark, once home to a loan company named The Money Store, provides a grounded, ironic origin for the album’s title, contrasting with its abstract themes.
Compositional Breakdown: Deconstructing Death Grips’ Sound
Compositionally, The Money Store dissects Hip-Hop into its core elements: rapped poetry, beat, and instrumental production. Death Grips amplifies and distorts each element before reassembling them. Their process is communal, with each member focusing on specific areas: Stefan (lyrics and vocals), Zach (drums and production), and Andy (production and engineering). This “Hip-Hop turned up to 11” approach drives both their sound and conceptual delivery.
Like classic West Coast Hip-Hop artists such as The Notorious B.I.G. or N.W.A. depicted street narratives of gang life and racial oppression, Death Grips’ lyrics, similarly exaggerated, explore violence, fear, danger, occultism, and detached mental states. Ride’s delivery, often described as a “violent deranged homeless person,” is an accelerated response to hardcore/gangsta rap.
Zach Hill’s background is rooted in rock, with extensive session work and projects like Hella, a mathy noise rock band showcasing his drumming prowess. His solo work further exemplifies his unique, raw style, known for pushing his drumming to the point of bleeding and destroying drumsticks.
Andy Morin, often the overlooked member, contributes the glitchy, industrial, eclectic, and alien soundscape. He joined after Zach and Stefan formed the project, bringing a crucial production element from his previous collaborations with Zach.
“Yeah. Not necessarily music. We wouldn’t talk about what this thing would sound like. It was all about empowerment for ourselves, not for other people. We’d talk about it like it was another person who was in the room. It was about this place where we could let out a lot of internalized things with hyper-velocity. We would talk about a super-inspiring sound as a concept, like a drug you’d take. There were a lot of philosophical conversations. At the start, we never really once talked about what kind of sounds we’d make, or instruments we’d use.”– Zach Hill for Pitchfork
Stefan’s Hip-Hop history includes Fyre, an experimental group from the mid-90s. His work as Mxlplx in Fyre reveals a different aesthetic, but foreshadows his Death Grips lyrical style. After Fyre, Stefan focused on painting.
“Lyrically, Death Grips represent the glorification of the gut…the id..summoned, tapped, and channelled before being imprisoned and raped by the laws of reason… All songs are written collectively and then maximized through painstaking attention to detail. We practice the art of deconstruction with the devotion of possessed fanatics. Both idealists and pessimists live in delusional fantasies rooted in their incapacity to deal with the way of things. We are realists. Anyone who feels safe is a brainwashed lamb ready for the slaughter.”– Stefan Burnett for CLASH
Death Grips amplify rap’s aggression to an extreme. Ride’s (MC Ride) often incomprehensible, violent shouts surpass even N.W.A.’s intensity. Unlike 2pac’s ego-driven persona, Ride offers unfiltered, raw, unconscious thoughts and reactions. Consider N.W.A.’s Fuck the Police:
Fuck the police! Comin’ straight from the underground
A young nigga got it bad ‘cause I’m brown
And not the other color, so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority
This verse delivers a clear message with cadence and flow, loosely following iambic pentameter and a sensible rhyme scheme. Compare it to Death Grips’ I’ve Seen Footage:
armored cop open fire glock
on some kid who stepped so
fast was hard ta grasp what even happened til you seen dat head blow
off his shoulders in slow mo
While depicting similar scenes, Death Grips’ lines are graphically violent with disregarded cadence. Ride’s delivery is a barrage, lines 1, 2, and 4 have consistent syllables, but line 3 is crammed and rushed. The rhyme scheme is present but strained. N.W.A. uses interplay of emphasis and relaxation, Death Grips is pure emphasis, an arrhythmic, backwards heart attack.
This signature lyricism and delivery permeates The Money Store.
Sampling, another Hip-Hop foundation, reaches new levels with Death Grips. They sample from The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Venus and Serena Williams grunts, and Vancouver Skytrain sounds. These samples are often twisted beyond recognition, taking years for fans to identify. Confirmed samples are detailed in song breakdowns, but their eclectic nature can seem random, chosen to expand references and create something contrived from chaos.
Interpretational Abstract: Cubism and Lyrical Perspective
My initial interpretation of Death Grips’ lyrics linked them to Pablo Picasso’s Cubism:
Picasso-beret-768×1035 (Marie‐Thérèse) (1937) – Image via Christie’s
Picasso’s Cubism presents subjects from multiple, jarringly overlaid perspectives. This helps decipher Death Grips’ cryptic lyrics. Consider these lines from Hacker:
i got this pregnant snake
stay surrounded by long hairs
a plethroa of maniacs
and spiral stairs
make your water break
in the apple store
sink or swim, who fucking cares
cut the birth cords
Initially unfathomable, these lines resemble a Garden-path sentence, grammatically correct but misleading. I believe these are two vocal takes stitched together, evident in lines five and six. “Make your water break in the Apple Store” makes sense alone, but sounds split after “Make your water break,” with “in the Apple Store” added. Separating them reveals two clearer verses:
i got this pregnant snake
make your water break
Sink or swim, who fucking cares, cut the birth cords
and:
stay surrounded by long hairs
a plethora of maniacs and spiral stairs
in the Apple Store
The first is an analogy for the album’s release. The second refers to Apple consumers (“long hairs,” Californian hippies) and Apple stores’ spiral staircases. These sets retain rhyme and form after separation, both with AAB schemes, and slant rhymes between third lines (AAB CCB). Mashing them preserves rhymes and creates new ones, like “cords,” “store.” Combining vocal takes preserves emphasis and flow, even fragmented.
Combining them juxtaposes meanings. Ride compares the album’s release to “maniacs” consuming Apple products. Like Death Grips, Apple has a distinct aesthetic, loyal consumers, and a progressive design philosophy. Whether understood or not, Death Grips released The Money Store, like premature water breaking in an Apple Store.
This technique creates two verses in one, achieving Picasso’s multiple viewpoints. Superimposed concepts create a fourth dimension, like the shifting perspectives in Picasso’s portrait.
Corrigendum 17th Oct. 2021: The lyrical passage from Hacker was initially chosen randomly. Years later, Zach Hill discussed its meaning, recounting watching U.S. Maple perform in 1999. “Pregnant snake” describes their stage presence, “long hairs” references their album Long Hair in Three Stages, and “Spiral Stairs” is Pavement’s second guitarist’s nickname. This revelation emphasizes the cryptic nature of Death Grips’ lyrics and the futility of literal interpretation.
“As a group, we’re perceived in large part as male or very aggressive, but we don’t think about those things. There is no gender to this group. It’s androgynous. But we know that perception. Peoples’ hangups with sexuality, gender, and nudity– it’s similar to how I feel about organized religion. It’s toxic and poisonous to the human mind, and the development of humans in the modern world. In our own modest way, through our artwork, that’s what it represents: pushing past everything that makes people slaves without even knowing it.” – Death Grips for Pitchfork
Song By Song Breakdown: Track-Level Analysis
The preceding analysis provides context and style insight for those unfamiliar with Death Grips. The following track-by-track breakdown offers deeper meanings and connections, highlighting interesting points rather than exhaustive interpretation. Lyrics are from the Death Grips website, often phonetically written and structurally inaccurate, likely shorthand original drafts. Layout changes are made for clarity, preserving original context. Lyrics are indented and blue, followed by analysis.
Get Got: The Deranged Getaway
Samples: Papito, Iba one – Music from Saharan Cellphones, Vol. 1 – Yereyira
“Get Got” opens the album with a fragmented getaway narrative from a mentally ill or inebriated perspective.
The music video embodies Death Grips’ raw, homemade aesthetic, parodying rap videos. Shots of Ride lip-syncing in various locations (Chinatown, Stockton Tunnel, Sacramento Capitol) are crudely filmed with glitchy effects. It deconstructs and rebuilds the Hip-Hop video ethos, suggesting a spontaneous, unplanned approach.
Capture
The sample, Yereyira, from Music from Saharan Cellphones, showcases Death Grips’ interest in unconventional music scenes. Compiled from Mali, these volumes feature music shared via Bluetooth in a physical peer-to-peer network, before extremists banned music in the region. Death Grips’ exploration of major labels, ARGs, and torrent releases aligns with this interest in alternative distribution and unusual music. These Saharan Cellphone samples are integral to The Money Store‘s sonic DNA.
get get get getgot got got got
blood rush to my
head lit hot lock
poppin off the
fuckin block knot
clockin wrist slit
watch bent thought bot
tail pipe draggin volume blastin
bailin out my brain red light flash
dem stop i smash
abraxas, hydroplane, massive
catch this flight flow
rainin madness
mastered mine and laced
the ave wit black cat fish tailin waves of stratus
curb right ta far left laneThe opening verse establishes the album’s tone and method. It depicts speeding in a stolen, hot-wired car, mounting curbs, music blaring, running red lights, smashing stop signs, burning tires (“stratus”), and swerving into oncoming traffic.
drilled a hole into my head
pierced the bone and
felt the breeze
lift my thoughts out
dem sick bed
wit a pair of crow
skeleton wings
know nothin since then
it seems
been floatin through
the nexus threadin dreamsThis verse references Trepanning, an ancient surgical procedure drilling a skull hole to release evil spirits – a literal mind-opening. It parallels Ride’s lyric writing and vocalization, with ideas (“crow with skeleton wings”) escaping his “sick bed” mind.
Reading verses backward clarifies the narrative. Starting with Ride’s Trepanning, he’s “floating through the nexus threading dreams,” losing sanity. Like a werewolf (“lycanthropic manic cycles”), he rages and goes to the city. Further dissociating, sleep-deprived and manic, he gets blackout drunk, leading to the opening lines: a crazed chase from imagined threats. Paranoia from sanity loss threads through the lyrics, requiring piecemeal interpretation – raw stream of consciousness from a mind detached from reality, the album’s operating mode.
The Fever (Aye Aye): Feverish Delusions
Similar to “Get Got,” “The Fever” presents violent, abstract imagery, depicting a life defined by “The Fever,” a literal sickness or mental illness.
Samples: Casio Computer Co., Ltd. – Sounds Effect 88
The music video begins with Ride hanging from an unusual door frame (J and 20th streets, Sacramento). The rest is a live performance, disorientingly edited with rapid scaling, abrupt transitions, cropping, and digital stabilization relative to Ride’s movements. Filters distort colors and contrast, resembling a corrupted file from a pirate internet.
The sample is a Casio keyboard sound effect, highlighting the concept of building from a single effect rather than traditional instrument use.
aye, aye, pass the dro my way
or no way twenty fo no
25-8These lines introduce “25-8,” an exaggeration of “24-7,” emphasizing constant intensity beyond daily limits. Likely an allusion to The Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week.” It also references a 25g 5/8 needle, common for insulin/steroid self-injections, thematically fitting. “Twenty fou- no, twenty five eight” corrects “24-7” to escalate further, stream-of-consciousness style, placing the listener inside Ride’s mind.
fuck it
upside down in a
soft top bucket
screamin
shred itThese lines reference John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, quoting “‘Two tears in a bucket, motherfuck it.’” The lyrics could be a sequel to “Get Got,” the fragmented insanity now central. “Upside down in a soft top bucket” suggests a convertible car crash aftermath, aligning with the previous song’s events.
by any means necesserated
blade cut me
sewer drain grated
bubonic plague
spreaded faceless
lurking in the deadest spaces
on your knees, black goat anus
christo anti clan of shameless
came ta whip those
into shapeless
here we go, devastated
here we go…This verse features dark spiritual/occult references: blood sacrifice, sewer entrapment (“grated”), Bubonic Plague. The Black Goat is a satanic symbol, representing fertility or bad omens, linked to Stefan’s Baphomet, Necronomicon Gate, and Shub-Niggurath tattoos.
diamonds scrapin the marrow, out my core
whos in the mirror
whos at the door
someones there
wasnt there before
ceiling connected
to the chord
pull it, pull that shit
i got the diamonds, scrapin,
sidin, wastin my life
in altered states dem
back it up, i got the fever“Diamonds scrapin’ marrow” evokes gruesome imagery of injecting meth/heroin, like a coroner scraping crystal buildup from veins/bones. “Chord” (possibly “cord”) could be intentional wordplay. “Sidin’” might be “slidin’” or “siding.” The track ends darkly, a chair pulled out, a cord around Ride’s neck connected to the ceiling, suggesting suicide.
Lost Boys: Outsiders on the Edge
Samples: Death Grips – Live from Death Valley – Fyrd Up
Following Ride’s manic state in “Get Got” and feverish delusions in “The Fever,” “Lost Boys” describes a group in this state – “lost boys.”
Death Grips frequently self-sample, including on The Money Store. They also share samples across releases and remixes, creating sample-remix chains. “Lost Boys” samples Fyrd Up from Live from Death Valley, an EP after Exmilitary. Fyrd Up contains references: “Fyred Up” alludes to Stefan’s Fyre project; “told rigor mortis grips” may define “Death Grips”; and lines:
are you sure that it’s tonight
cause if it’s not I might get got
the complication of your system
unexpected, don’t wanna be the victim
Fyred Up explores being outside “the system,” vulnerable to societal rejection (“you might get got”). This concept, of being “got,” is central to The Money Store, providing the title of “Get Got.”
(lost boys)
other side of da tracks
scuzz outsiders
nothin ta loose
strike of midnighters
lost boys“Wrong side of the tracks” refers to the “bad” side of town. “Tracks” also alludes to vein damage from IV drug use. These first three songs define “getting got”: how it happens, to whom, and how it feels.
Blackjack: Gambling with Life
Samples: No confirmed samples discovered.
“Blackjack” lyrics, similar to previous tracks, describe ripping off and stealing, using Blackjack and gambling analogies.
The music video opens with a color-changing Clonazepam pill and a depression medication ad sample. The main video is framed like a porthole, using the bezel of a floor light later used for The Powers that B cover art, also seen in the “I’ve Seen Footage” video.
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shawshank the box
cant be contained
man came ta pick the lock
empty the vault
and leave no trace
sleep dont wake“Shawshank” references The Shawshank Redemption, but here it’s about breaking in, not out, emptying a safe at night.
(cant do a thing but fold)
comin from that hit me
until twenty one makes your chips mine
high king, ace, to knees the place
put down by g’s raisin the stakes
no need ta count the deck i own itThese excerpts contain Blackjack references. Blackjack is a one-on-one game against a dealer, aiming for the highest card value under 21. “Hit me” means wanting another card. “Count the deck” is memorizing gameplay to predict cards. “Folding” and “raisin the stakes” are poker terms; folding concedes the hand, raising increases the bet. Blackjack bets are fixed pre-round.
Hustle Bones: Self-Aware Bragging
Samples:
- Rodney O and Joe Cooley – U Don’t Hear Me Tho
- Casio Computer Co., Ltd. – Sounds Effect 88
“Hustle Bones” marks a shift to a more lucid lyrical perspective, a self-aware brag from Ride to the listener, contrasting the preceding unfiltered insanity.
The music video features a camera and drugs in a spinning clothes dryer. The opening shot is disorienting, cannabis flying around. Money stacks, beer, and briefly, the album cover’s canine gimp mask are inside. The camera, fixed to the door, swings out revealing Ride rapping, awaiting the dryer cycle.
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Unusually, Death Grips samples a Hip-Hop song (excluding self-samples). The sampled track is typical early 90s Hardcore West-Coast Hip-Hop, relating to Death Grips like the N.W.A. verse analysis. The sampled album, Fuck New York, is named for West Coast rappers’ frustration with East Coast bias.
hustle bones comin’ out my mouthThe recurring line’s meaning is debated. “Bones” might be money, earned through Ride’s vocals (“mouth”). Or “hustle bones” are lyrics, remnants of a past lifestyle, like a skeleton.
eons beyond the line never crossed, by dem punks livin soft
while i ride that bomb dr. strangelove into the sun
look no hands megatons rode like man
we can’t lose no shit, no shitThis references Dr. Strangelove, ending with a B-52 pilot riding a nuke to detonation. Megaton is a unit of explosive energy. Ride imagines crossing a line “punks livin soft” wouldn’t, riding a bomb into the sun. “Megatons rode” describes this, or past tense of “Ride” to “rode” after bomb consumption.
I’ve Seen Footage: Paranoid Awareness
Samples: No confirmed samples discovered.
“I’ve Seen Footage” is a conspiracy-style account of seeing “too much real shit,” paranoid awareness blurring reality. The song is known for “noided,” a meme in the Death Grips fanbase, a contraction of “paranoided.”
Its music video is unique, a rapid montage of images chronicling Death Grips’ world, often “cursed”-style, dark with flash. It tells a Death Grips tour story: travel, live shows, setlists, music video scenes, malls, airports, backstage areas.
Annotation 2020-01-14 085508
Some notable frames: early show with guillotine prop, gold bar, Lady Gaga posters, drugs, Zach’s old address, early album artwork concepts, Get Got police lights, dead animals, Stefan inscribing “Death Grips.” Many frames became popular “cursed” memes. Headphones, volume up, unfocused stare at the video create a hypnotic effect, drawing viewers into their world, literally creating footage from shared experiences and shady activities, mirroring the lyrics.
“The line “I’ve Seen Footage” was from a conversation I had with this street-person dude in Sacramento named Snake Eyes. A friend of ours recorded him on the porch in a conversation– he didn’t know he was being recorded. He was all fucked up on drugs and shit, just rattling off all this crazy information. He was talking about structures on the moon. I mean, I talk about those things, too. So we were talking about moon structures, and Snake Eyes says, “I’ve seen footage! I’ve seen footage of it!” And I was like, “That’s good!””– Zach Hill for Pitchfork
This encounter inspired the title and song, the verses sounding like Snake Eyes, a drugged wanderer.
whats that
cant tell
hand held dream
shot in hell
deep space ghetto (streets)
show me somethin
i aint seen before
mystery hind that
death doorRide can’t identify “that,” a dream in hell filmed on a phone. The only unknown is post-death.
got a no-no goin, one time
creeps up behind me
over my shoulder
turn around try to see
but its nowhere
noided, noided
static on my blindside“One time” is slang for police. Ride feels them creeping, turns, but nothing’s there. “Static on my blindside” encapsulates the song – peripheral vision blurred with static, feeling followed, “noided.”
whats the science on
flyin that highSounds like fake moon landing ramblings, ironic given the moon structure inspiration. “Noided” and distrust of perception recur, filtering subsequent lyrics – interpret non-literally, keeping “noided” in mind.
Double Helix: Death Grips’ DNA
Samples:
- The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour – Blue Jay Way
- Cheb Wasila – Music from Saharan Cellphones, Vol. 2 – Hwa Heda
- John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band – Mother
“Double Helix” references DNA structure, dissecting Death Grips’ musical DNA and their connection to music history.
Another iconic Death Grips music video, filmed entirely through a 2007 Toyota Prius reverse camera. Ride menacingly raps into the camera, feeling trapped in a locked car with Ride taunting from behind, visible only through the parking camera with its ominous “Check surroundings for safety” message.
Annotation 2020-01-14 112718
The song samples Music from Saharan Cellphones Vol. 2, officially released in January 2013, post-Money Store. Both volumes were compiled in 2010. This sample track was also used by Grimes in a 2011 DJ mix. The sample’s obscure origins and release timeline highlight Death Grips’ deep sample sourcing. Major label access likely facilitated clearing ambitious samples like The Beatles. Exmilitary‘s ambitious samples remain uncleared, possibly why it’s officially unpublished as a “mixtape.”
Death Grips have discussed their Beatles connection:
“For whatever reason I had a vision John Lennon would be a big fan of Death Grips.
Oh man! Thank you very much. They’re [The Beatles] often a topic in the music that we make. The way they did their shit and how they went about making their music through stages of development. At the same time highly conceptual. We talk about The Beatles all the time, how we want to be The Beatles of Rap. I say that without arrogance, it is just something to aspire to.”– Death Grips for The Source
Sampling Blue Jay Way is pointed. Uncharacteristically for The Beatles, it references Los Angeles:
There’s a fog upon L.A
And my friends have lost their way
We’ll be over soon they said
Now they’ve lost themselves instead
These lines resonate like Death Grips lyrics, albeit more grounded. Set in Blue Jay Way, Hollywood Hills, where George Harrison stayed when writing the song, the sample choice is referenced in “Double Helix” lyrics:
be back when you think im gone
blue jay way, dont belong
double helix phoenix from beyond
Interpretations: Harrison didn’t belong in Blue Jay Way, Death Grips don’t belong in L.A., or the sample doesn’t belong in a Death Grips track. Being an unsettling Beatles song, it fittingly acknowledges Death Grips’ Beatles aspiration – The Beatles are part of Death Grips’ DNA.
The track opens with descriptions of Death Grips’ music production:
bangin bones on roland jungle
rottin chicken skeletal system
bombin unidentified genre abductor
hit it from the back formula fucker
hooded executor of cookie cutter
cant wait ta pull dat trigger
shut gunner
Roland is a Japanese electronic instrument company. “Jungle” is the electronic genre they share elements with, but “rotten.”
This is Death Grips’ DNA, their double helix. They are the “unidentified genre abductor,” formula-fucking “hooded executor.” “Hooded executor” is wordplay on “hooded executioner.” “Executor” means carrying out a task, like overseeing a will. “Executioner” is a type of “executor.” Two interpretations:
- Death Grips are hooded executioners of cookie-cutter music, twisting and formula-fucking.
- They execute (create) cookie-cutter music, using samples and genre combinations (“genre abductor”). “Hooded” implies their dark, twisted take on even “cookie cutter” elements.
Reality is both. Death Grips “execute” cookie-cutter music and “execute” it.
(so you really wanna know how i freak it)This hook repeats, “freak it” being a verb Death Grips identify with, used in interviews and lyrics, including “System Blower.” “Freak it” means “to do something really well; improvise musically; rock hard; making a cool song; being original” (Urban Dictionary, 2007). Death Grips use it to describe their music-making process.
“The production is definitely a huge part of the aesthetic, what is the process for making the “beats” on this record?
We just freak it out…work the graveyard shift.”– Zach Hill for Coolehmag
This track invites listeners into their process, a glimpse into the minds behind Death Grips.
System Blower: Amplified Anarchy
Samples:
- Venus Williams grunting
- Vancouver Skytrain acceleration sound
“System Blower” describes music so loud it blows sound systems, equating it to riot, anarchy, and societal breakdown.
“For example, in the song “System Blower”, there’s this part that goes, “WA-WA-WA-WA-WA,” and the drop is the sound of Venus Williams screaming when she hits a tennis ball. It was in a video we found on YouTube. The only things we sampled were things like that, things from everyday life. We all carry around camcorders; we’ll record sounds with digital cameras and use those sounds on our records, with a real disregard for sound quality. We’ll build something around something that’s just fucked– like, you just shouldn’t use it. But there’s a majestic quality to that rawness. When people talk about how our music is like rap music, but punk, I think they’re talking about our use of instrumentation like that.”– Zach Hill for Pitchfork
Zach clarifies the non-musical sample concept. They take everyday sounds and twist them into something dangerous, reframing life and music to reveal something new. This sample philosophy is crucial to the album.
yeah we came to blow your system
you know what im sayin kill it or die
braggin about how you had it all dialed
well whats up now when your shit isThe opening line establishes the double meaning: “blow your system” is both sound system and societal system. “When your shit is…” foreshadows the “Hacker” hook, “When you come out your shit is gone.” “Blown” could replace “gone.” Each instance of this line precedes examples of their music’s system-blowing intent.
stupid dopefiend beat low hung blood spray
all over da death stomp drums
scum worshipping speaker ripping
pun2k weight holding heretics
boundary reapin frequency
freakin out till we’re like that
track sound so sickIntroduces “pun2k weight,” a 21st-century Punk form, detailed in the “Punk Weight” section. “Freakin” here is another instance of “freak it,” sounding like the expletive.
just for kicks cant fuck wit dis
sadomaso-kiss my fist suck my dick, its not cool
im too sick, what time is it
system blower, systems over
deep in da klink base cut straight to da chase
like a triple shot of 180 proof kill-o-watts
riots audio violence breaks your windows
and takes all da loot“Sadomaso-kiss my fist” is a pun, inserting “kiss my fist” into Sadomasochism, a portmanteau of sadism and masochism, relating to the album cover.
The Cage: Mental Confinement
Samples: Death Grips – Death Grips (Next Grips)
The track’s larger concept is unclear, but the title and lyrics suggest Ride’s mental state as a “cage,” similar to “The Fever,” but a confinement metaphor. Alternatively, “The Cage” could be literal – prison or incarceration, with lyrics suggesting law evasion.
hopes that mo cash will help you cope
sorry ta tell ya.. but it won’t
how do i get out then?
you dontThese lines illustrate both literal and metaphorical cages.
The hook features wordplay:
(i say kill it like ya, you say hate it
kill it like ya hate it
kill it like ya hate it
i say arrrgghh you say cant take it
i cant take it i cant take it)A parody of musicians’ crowd interaction, with Ride as both musician and audience, using different inflections. “Kill it like ya” signals “hate it.” “Arrrgghh” signals, but “arrrgghh” and “I” are interchanged, switching from call-response to Ride saying “I can’t take it.” Repetitions vary pronunciations and intonations; “arrrgghh,” “I,” “Ow’,” “Oh” are used in the “__ can’t take it” phrase, slightly altering meaning each time.
terrified by da way a bassilisk come out him
skin so fast not the first wont be the last
barrel of my gun down the hatch 187
deep throat chokin eat dis fourty-four magnum dicA Basilisk is a mythical snake that kills with its gaze, shedding skin, similar to later lines. Forcing a gun down someone’s throat is compared to snake shedding. 187 is a Springfield rifle model, Forty-Four Magnum a powerful handgun.
rainin blood, burnin paper
a j acksons catchin vaporsAndrew Jackson is on the US $20 bill. “Burning paper Andrew Jackson catching vapors” means burning money, possibly a joint rolled with a $20 bill.
Punk Weight: 21st Century Rebellion
Samples:
- Cheb Wasila – Music from Saharan Cellphones, Vol. 2 – Hwa Heda
- Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced – Manic Depression
“Punk Weight” is abstract, lacking clear narrative. “Punk weight” (stylized “pun2k weight”) is a recurring phrase, tying the song together, representing Punk for Y2K, an evolution of 70s Punk.
This Saharan Cellphones sample contains Moroccan Arabic lyrics, difficult to decipher, likely a Gnawa song with Sufism themes. Death Grips likely chose it aesthetically.
Stefan named Jimi Hendrix a favorite musician in a rare interview. The twisted, unrecognizable Jimi Hendrix – Manic Depression sample is significant. Hendrix’s 1967 album and scene were pivotal, 1967 being a turning point for Psychedelic Rock (Are You Experienced, Sgt. Pepper’s, The Doors, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Surrealistic Pillow). The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) is considered proto-Punk, linking drug use and perverted sex to Rock and Roll. All Punk, Psychedelic, Experimental, Underground music is indebted to it, including Death Grips.
“I was talking to Lou Reed the other day, and he said that the first Velvet Underground record sold only 30,000 copies in its first five years. Yet, that was an enormously important record for so many people. I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band!”– Brian Eno for the Los Angeles Times
Death Grips’ obscure samples and the Hendrix sample’s context – 1967, proto-Punk – acknowledge their deepest roots, though connecting Hendrix to the song’s meaning directly is a stretch.
warholian nightmare
storm the gates
25 8, twelve gauge pun2k weight
(25 8 pun2k weight out yo flesh)Another connection to TVU&N via the Andy Warhol reference:
“Actually, we kept talking about the ‘Warholian nightmare’ while we were making The Money Store. We kept talking about this record as directly relating to certain things about Andy Warhol, if we had to choose an artist. It’s the same, in our minds, as pop art.”– Zach Hill for AQNB
Pop Art, starting in the 1950s, reacted against Fine Art and Abstract Art, using popular culture and advertising imagery, decontextualized and mimicking mass production. Warhol re-presented familiar imagery, shifting artistry from skill to context and intent, challenging perceptions of popular imagery and fine art. Death Grips share this re-representation of ideas, processing dark, eclectic parts of existence into synthetic sounds in unexpected spaces, like Warhol turning a supermarket shelf into a gallery.
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This Warhol connection is significant because Warhol managed The Velvet Underground in their proto-Punk era, integrating them into his “Superstars” collective. “Warholian nightmare,” Death Grips’ concept for the album, defines “pun2k.” Warhol’s role in Punk’s formation, leading to Death Grips, makes them a nightmarish, abstract Pop Art version. Punk and Pop Art were rebellious, but no longer as contrary. Death Grips are contrary to current music ethos (at The Money Store‘s release), using Punk and Pop Art concepts to create “pun2k.”
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“Pun2k weight” meaning is diverse, a mantra-like state and amount of mass, always relating to that state. “25 8 pun2k weight out yo flesh” references The Merchant of Venice‘s pound of flesh debt. “25-8, twelve gauge pun2k weight” sounds like boxing weight class. “Smoke pun2k weight for breakfast…”, “scale richtor pun2k weight of dis sound” focus on “weight.” “Pun2k” becomes redundant in these last examples.
end beat limbo, baba spitting
blood in slow mo, la la chimney
off in the rhythm like
beta in the bong
mic spray kyrlon“Baba” is respectful older male/father in several languages. “Off in the rhythm” references “flow,” cannabis-associated creative state. Beta brainwaves relate to focused mental activity, altered by cannabis. “Kyrlon” misspells Krylon spray paint, referencing their Adult Swim segment where Ride spray paints a microphone red (RED MIC=MC RIDE?).
ask samo how he flipped that material girls pancakes..
as zydeco copper kettles“SAMO” references Jean-Michel Basquait, 70s NYC graffiti artist, pre-fame relationship with Madonna (“Material Girl”). Zydeco is Louisiana Blues. The line describes their relationship as loud/unpleasant (“copper kettle”), but pancake flipping and Zydeco are unclear.
“Punk Weight” established a link to Björk. Their collaboration (Niggas On The Moon) features Björk’s vocal samples. Björk includes Death Grips in DJ sets. They seem complementary, Death Grips as Björk’s antithesis.
“i am proud to announce my vocals landed on the new death grips album ! i adore the death grips and i am thrilled to be their “found object”. i have been lucky enough to hang and exchange music loves w/ them and witness them grow !! epic : onwards !!”– Björk on Death Grips
Fuck That: Disjointed Defiance
Samples: Yeli Fuzzo – Music from Saharan Cellphones, Vol. 1 – Abandé
“Fuck That” is lyrically disjointed, lacking coherent narrative beyond Ride’s loud “fuck that.”
third rail
over one nine breakers
lit throat, cut creator
hung from dem nail
hang em high
savior faire
trans-siberian epic
trek through dat next switch
set it off the roglyphic
jackal headed dawn of the under
check it, check one
you can suck it
till i get disgusted“Third rail” is train power system. “One nine breaker” sounds like CB radio slang, channel 19, “Breaker” to start talking. “Over” ends radio phrase. Reminiscent of a circuit breaker. Suicide by third rail electrocution image. “Savoir faire” (French, “know how”), streetwise. Trans-Siberian Railway, long, “epic.” “Through dat next switch” – railway switch, path change. Cold, long journey to change, cut communication, circuit breaker blown. “Roglyphic” (Hieroglyphic), “Jackal-headed” Anubis, Egyptian afterlife god.
get off mine i got that juice
noo style cut your brain stem
as my combat boots grind your head
to the cadence of this dreath stompin mu-sick as fuck
contagion wagin war with all you knew..
bitch“Dreath” is misspelled “death.” “Mu-sick” split across lines, “mu” preserving slant rhyme scheme. “Mu” might reference 4chan’s /mu/ board, Death Grips’ early online presence.
mossberg ballistic flux massive
my shure beta 58a hazmatted
pump pump slugster radioactive
ride through a mine field laced wit black magic
straight from the mayday… naw fuck that
(ONE) broke off its axis, polar shifted
granite knock made ta off every last bitch on this planet
fuck that, naw, fuck thatMossberg, Slugster are gun models. Shure BETA 58A is a microphone, possibly Ride’s. Vivid self-description: black magic minefield ride, combat boots brainstem grind, radioactive shotgun lyrics, earth knocked off orbit.
dealer push your wig all the way back
head wear your face like a yamakulapse
never can tell where you’re at
eyes stuck on the sky always gettin jacked
tryin ta lookin the mirror like..“Yamakulapse” – Yarmulke (Jewish skullcap) + collapse, scalp collapsing, face sliding up, eyes skyward.
“Fuck That” is raw Death Grips – violent drums, minimal glitchy framework for Ride’s extreme vocals, a loud “fuck that” statement against anything not Death Grips.
Bitch Please: Confident Domination
Samples:
- Death Grips – Exmilitary – Thru the Walls
- Death Grips – Exmilitary – Takyon
“Bitch Please” is another loud self-brag, directed at the listener.
when shit goes down
ill be there
wit my hand on my gun, and my eyes on the road
ghost ridin ta hell
fuck if i care… who wanna catch my droze
give a fuck blood
i aint goin nowhere
templar night and day, live an die by the code, code of the street
how ta stay in the zone, how i own it
and freak it to da base of da bone“Droze” is slang for omnipotent confidence. “Templar night and day” is a pun, comparing his 25-8, pun2k, code-of-the-street attitude to Crusader Knights Templar.
cuz i run this lik like dogtown
ripped that raw shit like none other
low down dirty shit shot off this hip
death grips, mothafuckaDogtown, Santa Monica area where 70s skateboarding group Zephyr Competition Team hung out.
Like “Fuck That,” “Bitch Please” is best appreciated loud. Tracks like “Hacker” and “Punk Weight” have deep breakdowns, but “Bitch Please” is about pure sonic impact.
Hacker: Meta-Allegory and Internet Infiltration
Samples:
- Blue Devils – The Ditty
- Death Grips – Live From Death Valley – Poser Killer
- M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – Midnight City
“Hacker” features all three Death Grips sample types: obscure YouTube, self-sample, recognizable mainstream song twisted beyond recognition. It’s one of their most popular, accessible songs, with quotable, meme-worthy lyrics, a defining Death Grips track.
Lyrics resemble Weird Twitter, Dril’s word salad style, rearranging mainstream and obscure cultural elements into non-sequiturs. Ride’s Weird Twitter interpretation, like Dril, creates a twisted, meta comparison of Death Grips, The Money Store‘s release, technology, internet, and popular culture.
goin back to Tangier
with some jordans and a spear
post-chrisitan shit
post chicken or the egg addiction shit
pass the sherm stick
neo-reality
be the freak you wanna see
just dont follow me
im on a journey to
the center of three
grab your fucking chain
and drag you through the bike lane
while everybody’s like noTangier, Morocco, historically diverse cultural hub. Jordans, Nike shoes. “Post-Christian shit,” “chicken or the egg?” questions distill philosophical worldview shift. Sherm stick, PCP-dipped cigarette.
These references blend with dynamic vernacular, influenced by 4chan, Deep Web memes. “Goin’ back to Tangier With some Jordans and a spear,” “Post chicken or the egg addiction shit” are non-sequiturs, reminiscent of Black Twitter Ebonics memes.
This verse analogizes Death Grips, The Money Store, album release, and their internet/popular culture presence. “[We’re] goin back to Tangier…”, “[This is] Post-Christian shit” relate to album creation and meaning. Listening feels like Ride dragging you through a bike lane while others watch helplessly. The 2nd and 3rd verses operate similarly.
you’re an intern on wikileaks
most loved therefore most hatedWikileaks, divisive organization, like Death Grips.
game changer
reclusive aggressive
yingin’ and yanging’
noided“Game changer” is clear, proven true. “Reclusive aggressive” is wordplay on “passive aggressive.” “Yin and Yang,” Chinese dualistic concept, representing change, opposites complementing each other. “Yingin’ and yanging'” describes erratic thoughts/behavior, mood swings, relating to album artwork’s Yin and Yang Taijitu symbol.
1024px-Yin_yang.svg
info warrior jack the hacker
the rolling stoner profit on disasterEarly Death Grips had “Info Warrior,” “Mexican Girl” as ancillary members. “Info Warrior” might reference Info Wars, Alex Jones’ conspiracy website. “Rolling stoner” references The Rolling Stones.
my existence is a
momentary lapse of reason
got the DNA of Gothic lemons
shred it thirteen times
out of elevenNihilistic Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason reference. “Gothic lemon,” dark, sour, fitting Ride’s DNA. “Shred it thirteen times out of eleven” twists “fall down seven times, get up eight,” Ride always “shredding it.” 13 is unlucky.
burmese babies under each arm
screamin beautiful songs
the cray cray ultra contrarion
havin conversations with your car alamKidnapping or celebrity philanthropist image. Burmese babies’ “beautiful songs” juxtaposed with car alarm, like Death Grips’ music. “Cray cray ultra contrarion,” “cray” dated slang, “contrarion” (contrarian). Ultra contrarian disagrees with everyone. Driving stolen car with alarm blaring, talking to himself, deeper meaning: listening to Death Grips’ “beautiful songs” is like talking to a car alarm.
Every line is self-analogous through cultural references, duality, convoluted language, philosophy, style.
“Lady Gaga is an example of making the most out of going major with universally positive results. The way she’s inspired people to embrace themselves as individuals in an age of such gross conformity and harsh ignorance is admirable.”– Death Grips for L.A Record
Ride rephrases admiration for Lady Gaga:
gaga cant handle this shitEven Gaga, inspiring individuality against conformity, can’t handle Death Grips.
prodigal, fuck that nautical
teachin bitches how to swim“Teachin’ bitches how to swim” is a stream of consciousness, correcting “prodigal” to “nautical,” then bragging about recklessness. Later continued:
(teachin bitches how to swim)
now backstroke
through your k-hole
dont run
ya might slip
the table’s flipped now
we got all the coconuts bitchSo prodigal it’s “nautical,” “teachin bitches how to swim.” “Backstroke through k-hole,” reckless, vulnerable. Ketamine “k-hole” bad trips, “don’t run, ya might slip” advises going with it. Cooking show/infomercial vocal delivery. Coconuts as currency in surreal nautical/island setting.
The album concludes with the recurring hook:
i’m in your area
i know the first three numbers
i’m inTrack embodies “Hacker” title – infiltration, tracking down. Death Grips infiltrating listener, mainstream, music culture. Mirrors Death Grips’ music release: YouTube leak, Deep Web ARG, torrents, /mu/ spread. “I know the first three numbers” – US area code, tracking location. IP address, ZIP code also fit. “I’m in your area” is also in EPMD’s Da Joint, EPMD referenced in Exmilitary‘s Takyon.
Erroneous link to Ryan Trecartin’s I-Be Area film. Death Grips and Trecartin linked by @DeathGripz, Money Store b-side sampling film dialogue. Claims of deeper links (art school, film appearances, lyric origins) are false. Valid link: Hacker and I-Be Area share themes of information delivery and internet chaos, informing each other’s convoluted chaos. I-Be Area is sensory overload, like Death Grips in film form. Film concept: “what if internet communication was translated to real life?” Hacker addresses internet information transfer, but deeper verbal connection is limited. I-Be Area dialogue’s “area” repetition might relate to “I’m in your area” in Hacker.
“Hacker” sets itself apart, least aggressive, most accessible, few lyrics not “glorification of the gut.” More directly serves concepts like individuality, concluding the album.
Conclusion: Meaning Beyond Words
“What is The Money Store about?” – Death Grips’ words: Hip-Hop id, 21st-century Punk and Pop Art answer, free-thinking individuality empowerment.
Nick Cave on Leonard Cohen’s Avalanche: its dark incomprehensibility places it outside reason, creating space for infinite interpretations. The Money Store occupies a similar space, beyond language, outside Plato’s cave, requiring infinite space to reach the mind. Simplest explanation: no answer. Indescribable. Linked to any topic, unique to each listener. “Meaning” is discovering personal meaning through listening and energy.
“I bought a pickaxe at the Home Depot in Glendale,” he remembered. “I concealed it in a guitar case, and I went down to the star. I put on some headphones; I was listening to Death Grips, which is some high-energy, ridiculous music. It gave me the energy I needed to tear through the star.”– Austin Clay for GQ on destroying Donald Trump’s walk of fame star
“That’s when I realized that Death Grips was my meth. I put that on and I can do anything and do it efficient as fuck. … Nico, Travis and I legit almost died because I decided to put on ‘Stockton’ and burn rubber at a red light, which resulted in my car spinning down at street at 60, 70 miles per hour at an intersection in Los Angeles around 2:45 on a school day. Not one scratch, no one hurt, not one car touched. I don’t know what it was, but it led me to believe that I had a grip on death (sorry, I had to say that).”– Tyler, The Creator on Death Grips
“Would you describe your music as surreal?
F: Partially… Death Grips are an outlet and a way to connect with people through something other than conversation or analyzation, to create something we don’t have words for yet.”– Andy Morin for The Quietus
Sources/Inspiration:
Quotes linked in text. Images: screenshots or referenced. Lyrics: Death Grips website. Interpretations/references: Genius annotations (use cautiously). Discogs for objective release info. WhoSampled for sample lists. Frank Delaney’s Re: Joyce podcast inspired breakdown format. Death Grips subreddit for obscure samples and leads.
