The Money Store (album)

The Money Store
a black and white drawing of a scantily clad female sexual dominant smoking and holding a topless female submissive in a dog mask on a leash. The words "DEATH GRIPS" are crudely carved into the latter's chest just above her breasts.
Uncensored cover. The censored artwork includes a white bar with the album name printed over the breasts.
Studio album by
Death Grips
ReleasedApril 14, 2012
Recorded2011–2012
Genre
Length41:23
LabelEpic
Producer
Death Grips chronology
Exmilitary
(2011) 		The Money Store
(2012) 		No Love Deep Web
(2012)

The Money Store is the debut studio album by American experimental hip hop trio Death Grips. It is the follow-up to their debut mixtape, Exmilitary. The album was officially released on April 24, 2012, but had been leaked to YouTube on April 14,[3] sold by the band at Coachella on cassette on April 20, and made available on vinyl on April 21 to celebrate Record Store Day.[4] The Money Store was announced alongside the group's second album, No Love Deep Web, which was released later in the year.[4][5]

Background

The album was first hinted at with the release of a music video for a track titled "Blackjack" on February 7, 2012.[6] The album was later announced along with the release of another track titled "Get Got" on February 27.[7] It was then announced that Death Grips had signed to Epic Records and were scheduled to release two albums in 2012.[4] On February 28, the group posted both songs online for free.[8]

On March 2, a video surfaced on their official YouTube channel of the band practising a new track titled "Lost Boys", to be released on The Money Store.[9] The studio version was then posted to their YouTube channel on March 13,[10] and was later released for free download on their website. On March 27, they released the music video for the song "The Fever (Aye Aye)", followed by a free download.

On April 10, the song "I've Seen Footage" was released for free download on their official SoundCloud page. Pitchfork Media awarded the track their "Best New Music" designation. The album was leaked on April 14, and the band uploaded a complete version to their YouTube channel and SoundCloud account.[3] The following day, Pitchfork Media posted "Hacker", the album's closing track, and named it "Best New Music".

On May 4, Death Grips announced via Facebook that they had cancelled their upcoming tour dates in support of The Money Store in order to finish the recording of their second record, No Love Deep Web, stating "[sic] we are dropping out to complete our next album NO LOVE. see you when it's done. (there are no longer any scheduled shows)".[11]

On September 10, a song titled "@DeathGripz", named after their Twitter username, was released as the final installment of the Adult Swim Singles Program 2012. The group had stated earlier that it was an unreleased cut from The Money Store.[12]

Elements of the track "System Blower" and "Full Moon (Death Classic)" were used on the band's remix of "Sacrifice" by Björk, which she included on her 2012 remix album Bastards later that year.[citation needed]

The closing track "Hacker" is believed to be an outtake from the band's debut 2011 mixtape Exmilitary. The file for an early unreleased version of the song was leaked on the band's official Subreddit in April 2017, originally titled "Earth Angel (Androgynous Mind)".[13]

Artwork

The album cover depicts a voluptuous masochist, with "Death Grips" carved into their chest, on the leash of a smoking female sadist. The image is painted by Sua Yoo, an artist with whom Death Grips had worked in the past. They later appeared on the album art for the band's 2015 soundtrack album, Fashion Week. It originally appeared in a zine, but the band name carved into the submissive's chest was added afterwards.[14][15] The non-explicit variant of the album cover includes a white bar with the album name printed across it, censoring the breasts.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.4/10[16]
Metacritic81/100[17]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. ClubB+[18]
The Guardian[19]
Los Angeles Times[20]
Mojo[21]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)A−[22]
NME6/10[23]
Pitchfork8.7/10[24]
Q[25]
Spin8/10[26]

The Money Store received critical acclaim upon release.[17] Music journalist Jim Carroll summarized: "MC Ride, Andy Morin and Zach Hill set out to create an intense, spectacular, feral racket and succeed in spades. Once you get used to the fact that they're fuming, you'll thrill to the raw, fractured, incessant and apocalyptic barrage of noise as Death Grips prepare for the end of the world."[27]

Jayson Greene of Pitchfork assigned the album a "Best New Music" label and wrote that "The Money Store is about as intellectual an experience as a scraped knee. But it's just as good at reminding you that you're alive."[24]

The album also notably received a "10" from music critic Anthony Fantano, the first of eight in his YouTube channel.[28][29][30]

Spin, while very positive towards The Money Store, felt it was inferior to Exmilitary for the rejection of the mixtape's use of samples, specifically "the raw, imperfect way that samples rub up against one another."[26] Less satisfied reviewers included Louis Pattison of NME, who felt its "utterly convincing" dystopian vision was ruined by an "alienating" presentation of themes that lacked a goal;[23] The Guardian's Alex Macpherson, who claimed Burnett's "one-note" vocal performance distracted the listener from the instrumentals' "careening thrill;"[19] and Sputnikmusic, who panned the "poor taste" blend of genres and production elements and "MC Ride's consistently incoherent mumbling and meme-of-the-day approach to making hooks" that muddled the record's lyrical complexities.[31]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
The 405 Albums of the Year 8 [32]
AllMusic Best of 2012 18 [33]
Decade in Review Unranked [34]
BBC Music Top 25 Albums of 2012 6 [35]
Beats Per Minute The Top 50 Albums of 2012 46 [36]
Clash The Top 40 Albums Of 2012 4 [37]
Complex The 50 Best Albums of 2012 40 [38]
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2012 16 [39]
Genius 100 Best Albums of the 2010s 27 [40]
Gigwise Albums of the Year 28 [41]
Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of 2012 47 [42]
Metacritic Best Music of 2012 So Far 22 [43]
New York Nitsuh Abebe's Top Ten Albums of 2012 4 [44]
No Ripcord Top 50 Albums Of 2012 3 [45]
Pitchfork The Top 50 Albums of 2012 9 [46]
The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–14) 34 [47]
The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s 117 [48]
The 33 Best Industrial Albums of All Time 25 [49]
The Plain Dealer 100 Greatest Albums of the 2010s 24 [50]
PopMatters The 75 Best Albums of 2012 29 [51]
Pretty Much Amazing Best Albums of 2012 23 [52]
The Skinny The Albums of 2012 1 [53]
Spin The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s 38 [54]
Stereogum Top 25 Albums Of 2012 So Far 18 [55]
Time Out London The 50 Best Albums of 2012 2 [56]
Tiny Mix Tapes Favorite 50 Albums of 2012 16 [57]
Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade 39 [58]
Treble Top 50 Albums of 2012 18 [59]
Top 150 Albums of the 2010s 127 [60]
The Village Voice Pazz & Jop 45 [61]
Vulture Top Ten Albums of 2012 4 [62]
The Wire 2012 Rewind: Releases of the Year 15 [63]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Death Grips

The Money Store track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Get Got"2:52
2."The Fever (Aye Aye)"3:07
3."Lost Boys"3:06
4."Blackjack"2:22
5."Hustle Bones"3:03
6."I've Seen Footage"3:23
7."Double Helix"2:37
8."System Blower"3:44
9."The Cage"3:31
10."Punk Weight"3:25
11."Fuck That"2:25
12."Bitch Please"2:57
13."Hacker"4:36
Total length:41:23

Samples

• "Get Got" contains a sample from "Yereyira" by Papito (ft. Iba One).

• "Double Helix" contains samples from "Mother" by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, "Hwa Heda" by Cheb Wasila, "Blue Jay Way" by The Beatles, and "Tinariwen" by Group Anmataff.

• "System Blower" contains samples from an audio of the Williams sisters grunting, and audios from the Vancouver Skytrain.

• "The Cage" contains samples from "Death Grips (Next Grips)" by the band.

• "Punk Weight" contains samples from "Hwa Heda" by Cheb Wasila, and "Manic Depression" by Jimi Hendrix.

• "Fuck That" contains samples from "Abandé" by Yeli Fuzzo.

• "Bitch Please" contains samples from "Thru The Walls" and the music video for "Takyon (Death Yon)" by the band.

• "Hacker" contains samples from "The Ditty" by the Blue Devils, and "Poser Killer" by the band.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
US Alternative Albums[64] 24
US Billboard 200[65] 130
US Heatseeker Albums[66] 3
US Rap Albums[67] 14
US Top Rock Albums[68] 39

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Worldwide April 14, 2012 YouTube stream Self-released (following internet leak) [3]
US April 20, 2012 Cassette sold by the band at Coachella Self-released
US & UK April 21, 2012 Record Store Day pre-release LP Epic [4]
Worldwide April 24, 2012 LP, CD, digital Epic
US & UK April 18, 2015 Record Store Day black/white split LP Epic
US June 3, 2022 Record Store Day Essentials LP Epic

References

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