Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of producers Zach Hill (drums) and Andy Morin (keyboards), and vocalist Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride. Though he is not the group's frontman, Hill has been credited with being the driving creative force behind the project. Drawing from punk rock, electronic, noise, and industrial styles, the band's innovative and often difficult-to-categorize sound has earned critical acclaim and a cult following, while their aggressive performance style and cryptic interactions with their fans and the media have gained widespread notoriety.
The group released the mixtape Exmilitary in April 2011 and their debut studio album, The Money Store, a year later; both received critical praise. Shortly after signing to Epic Records in 2012, the group leaked their second album, No Love Deep Web, for free download in breach of their contract and were dropped from the label. They released their third album, Government Plates, in 2013. Following several broken performance commitments, the group announced their disbanding in July 2014 along with the release of their fourth album, a double album titled The Powers That B. The group leaked the first disc of this double album, Niggas on the Moon, in 2014. In early 2015, before releasing the second disc, Jenny Death, the group released an instrumental "soundtrack" album titled Fashion Week. The song titles follow as; "Runway J", "Runway E", and so on; acrostically spelling out the phrase "JENNY DEATH WHEN", which had become a popular phrase coined by fans of the band, who were eagerly anticipating the release of the second disc. The Powers That B was released in 2015, billed as their final album. However, in March 2015, the group revealed that they "might make some more" music, and later announced a world tour.
Later in 2015, Death Grips announced their fifth official studio album, Bottomless Pit, which was released in May 2016. Their sixth studio album, Year of the Snitch, was released in June 2018. Their fourth EP, Gmail and the Restraining Orders, was released in June 2019 in celebration of Warp Records' 30th anniversary.
History
2010–2011: Formation and Exmilitary
Death Grips were formed in Sacramento, California, on December 21, 2010. On the same day, they recorded their first song, "Full Moon (Death Classic)". It was released on March 8, 2011, with a video and a free self-titled EP which featured the song alongside five other songs. On April 25, 2011, Death Grips released a free mixtape entitled Exmilitary, containing three tracks from the EP along with new songs. Throughout the spring and early summer in 2011, they played small shows while Exmilitary was spreading steadily throughout the Internet and receiving favorable reviews from music critics. The band was originally composed of Hill, Burnett, Morin (then referred to as Flatlander), Mexican Girl and Info Warrior, before stripping back to Hill, Burnett and Morin only, with Mexican Girl credited solely as a feature on "Lord of The Game", off of Exmilitary.
2012: The Money Store and No Love Deep Web
Death Grips signed with Epic Records in February 2012, under the recommendation of Epic's then-executive vice president of marketing, Angelica Cob-Baehler. They announced the release of one album in 2012. Their first studio album, The Money Store, was released in April, received the first ever perfect "10/10" score from notoriously harsh music critic Anthony Fantano, and debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 130. Termed as "avant-rap", Pitchfork called The Money Store "confrontational, abrasive, and chaotic". The Los Angeles Times called it "punk rock with a hip-hop face-lift".