Jake Danna has gone from working at Whole Foods to creating multiple rap albums in just five years.
Danna, also known for his rapper name Curta, is a 32-year-old who’s advancing the Denver rap scene with his unique, sonic contributions. On March 19, he dropped his third project titled “End of Future Park.” On the project, Curta delivers the same experimental sound that he always aims for while delivering a new, lesser-heard perspective.
“People say my music feels dystopian … but I just talk about what’s around me,” Curta said.
Looking into Curta’s music, he makes references to our culture ruled by technology while making mysterious references to several science fiction novels.
“I’m a huge reader,” Curta said. “I used to want to write books as a kid.”
Citing science fiction as his favorite genre, his influence becomes clear. Currently, his favorite book is “The Peripheral” by William Gibson.
People say my music feels dystopian, but I just talk about what’s around me.” – Denver rapper, Curta
“I try to keep a healthy diet of reading,” Curta said.
Along with lyrical influences, Curta has his own set of influences production-wise.
“I’m really into experimental indie rock,” Curta said. “Electronic music also really helped.”
Curta and his producer, 4Digit, combine forces to deliver an experimental sound on “End of Future Park.
Over Curta’s rap career, he and 4Digit have developed a tight relationship with each other, as they collaborate on every track that Curta puts out.
“It really wasn’t until I started to hang out with Curta that I even gave much notice to hip hop/rap production,” 4Digit said. “Even now after a lot more exposure to it, I still draw most of my influences from outside genres and artists.”
By maintaining a lot of outside influence in his production and not sticking to typical hip hop formula, 4Digit has been able to create the unique sound that Curta rides the beats to.
“End of Future Park” is available on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp along with a physical cassette version available for purchase on Bandcamp.
Curta and 4Digit met when they did a team building exercise at their jobs at Whole Foods.
“I generally tend to gravitate toward other cynical people, so in this instance that person happened to be Curta,” 4Digit said. “This led to us chatting a lot more at work, mostly about music … I played the ‘we should hang out sometime’ card not expecting anything. To my surprise, he followed through, and we met up and he showed me what he had been working on.”
Since then, Curta has been doing tours for the past couple years and just finished up a 14-show U.S. tour.
“I don’t know if I would make music if I couldn’t perform,” Curta said. “It’s a fun challenge and it makes you a better performer; building set lists and getting to try out a bunch of different material in different environments.”
Collegian reporter Miles Parrish can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @parrishm20.
