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Danny Brown

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Danny Brown

Danny Brown
Detroit’s most original MC… sorry Eminem. Danny Brown is a tweaker’s nightmares come to life. His delivery is as original as they come. Brown embraced his unique hood/hipster personality, took full advantage of social media, and -- fueled by his experiences with drug dealing and drug taking, as well as a wicked sense of humor -- has delivered some of the most vivid, vulgar, and side-splitting rhymes of his era. The eccentric's most notable releases include the Billboard 200 Top 20 entry 2013’s Old and the Warp-released albums: 2016’s Atrocity Exhibition and 2019’s uknowhatimsayin¿ These projects bolstered production from the likes of the Alchemist and Q-Tip. Brown surfaced during the mid-2000s as a member of Reser'vor Dogs. The group advanced far enough to get the attention of the Roc-A-Fella label. A deal was not struck, but an A&R rep assisted Brown with the recording and release of a mixtape, Detroit State of Mind. New York recording sessions placed him in the company of several contemporaries, including G-Unit. In 2010, Brown released The Hybrid, among other mixtapes, such as additional volumes of the Detroit State of Mind series. While it was rumored that Brown would be signing to G-Unit, label head 50 Cent allegedly balked due to the rapper's fashion sense (which included a preference for skinny jeans). Brown eventually found a home at Fool's Gold, where he issued XXX, his highest-profile mixtape up to that point. Pitchfork named it the 19th best album of 2011, writing of the album, “If XXX was nothing but debauchery and desperation, it would quickly devolve into an endless slog. Thankfully, Brown is also hilariously funny, an endlessly inventive rapper driven to cook up outrageous variations on standard rap boasts.” He was named as part of the 2012 XXL “Top Ten Freshmen” list. At the end of 2012, Brown announced that the follow-up to XXX had been recorded. Originally titled “ODB”, it was continually pushed back by the label, with Brown tweeting in August 2013 that he would consider leaking the release. In October, the retitled album, Old, appeared with guest verses by A$AP Rocky and ScHoolboy Q. A surprise hit, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 18. Brown signed with Warp and made his label debut in 2016 with "When It Rain." The single's parent album, Atrocity Exhibition, was issued later in the year. In October 2019, a couple months after the debut of his hilarious Viceland talk show Danny's House (see him interview Insane Clown Posse here), Brown returned with his second album for Warp, uknowhatimsayin¿, the majority of which was produced by Q-Tip. Brown has also collaborated with other artists, such as Australian electronic music group the Avalanches on the track “Frankie Sinartra.” So that’s the history, but let tell you why I love Danny Brown. In short, I just love his whole vibe. Also, his rapping is as original as they come. I’ve liked him ever since I came on board with his song “Old.” I still love that track. I love his sound…
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Danny Brown

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