Death Grips

Death Grips leaked their second album, No Love Deep Web, for free in 2012 while signed to Epic Records, breaching their contract and prompting the label to drop them. Formed in Sacramento, California, in 2010, the experimental hip-hop band is built around vocalist Stefan Burnett, known as MC Ride, alongside producers Zach Hill on drums and Andy Morin on keyboards. Hill, while not the group’s frontman, has been credited as its driving creative force.

The group emerged with the 2011 mixtape Exmilitary, followed by its debut studio album, The Money Store, in 2012. Both were critically praised. Death Grips draw from hip-hop, punk rock, electronic music, noise and industrial, combining Burnett’s forceful, cryptic delivery with dense production, live drums and abrasive electronic textures. Their hard-to-classify records, aggressive live performances and guarded dealings with fans and media helped build a cult following and made the band a frequent source of notoriety.

After leaving Epic, Death Grips launched Third Worlds in association with Harvest Records and released Government Plates in 2013. In July 2014, following several broken performance commitments, the band announced its disbanding while also outlining a double album, The Powers That B. Its first disc, Niggas on the Moon, was leaked that year. Before the release of the second disc, Jenny Death, Death Grips issued the instrumental “soundtrack” album Fashion Week in early 2015.

By March 2015, the group said they “might make some more” music and later announced a world tour. Their fifth official studio album, Bottomless Pit, arrived in May 2016, followed by Year of the Snitch in June 2018. In June 2019, they released their fourth EP, Gmail and the Restraining Orders, to mark Warp Records’ 30th anniversary. Apart from previously unreleased material added to their website in 2023, the band did not publish new music for several years. Speculation in 2025 that Death Grips had split was dismissed by Hill and Burnett, who said the group remained active; in November 2025, Death Grips announced they were working on a new album.