If you're aware of who Danny is, its more than likely because of his... odd fashion sense. The combination of skinny jeans and ridiculous hairdo (it'd take a whole new post to describe it so I recommend just looking it up if you're curious) has given him quite a bit of hype among underground fans and media outlets alike. Conveniently enough, it turns out that Danny does in fact rap. You can think what you want about the way he looks bit you'd be hard pressed to find a sensible hip hop fan that doesn't acknowledge that the man can fucking rap.
Danny Brown wasn't really on my radar until his collaborative album released later in 2011 with fellow Detroit MC Black Milk. At the time, Black Milk was the only reason I was listening and Danny was good enough but nothing that really struck me. Next time I heard the name was on XXLs freshman class, which gave me enough reason to check out the album. I don't know what happened, but I didn't listen too the album until now.
After a couple years signed with G-Unit, they had no idea what to do with him so Danny eventually found his way over to Fools Gold Records. Because the label is held highly in regards to hip hop heads, Danny was viewed as a more credible rapper and he was promoted more successfully, while embracing his look as well.
And that's where we find ourselves now. XXX was released in 2011 as a free online download that shot Danny Brown onto the radars of many more rap fans. A critical success, XXX was met with very warm reviews and was even proclaimed as the album of the year by Spin. But now its time for me to add my two cents.
1. XXX
I Know, there is so much on here that you have to comprehend that the song might fly right by. Danny's voice is certainly different from most, but I'm pretty sure that i enjoy it. Lyrically, we have references from Squidward to Masta Ace, displaying Danny's knowledge of hip hop and classic Nickelodeon shows respectfully. The instrumental hits you pretty hard and prepares you for the madness this album contains.
2. Die Like A Rockstar
Its worth noting that this album has a bit of a concept to it that you won't really understand until you've listening to the whole thing through. Through the first part of the album, Danny is high on all kinds of drugs but most notably adderall, which he mentions numerous times. As the title of the song shows, Danny feels like a rockstar when he's high and has an excuse to pretty much say whatever the hell comes to mind. Quality song.
3. Pac Blood
As with a majority of the songs, this is pretty short, clocking in at only around two minutes. On here, Danny takes the last track to an even higher degree, as his high begins to reach its peak. Over a beeping instrumental, we are treated to lyrics of snorting coke with the virgin Mary, and stories of Tupac visiting Danny in his dreams. Holy shit I feel like a terrible person just for typing that.
4. Radio Song
Damn the hook on this is annoying, but I'm fairly certain that it was intentional. The track cleverly attacks the songs you will here on the mainstream, although Danny is working his way up there. Anyways, this was a really enjoyable track, even though its purposefully including the generic topics of commercial rappers. The beat was pretty boring, but I guess that's fitting considering the theme of the song.
5. Lie4
Other than the violin and base heavy instrumental, this song wasn't memorable in the slightest. I can't really tell if this song is being serious or not considering the last song. I doubt he'd put these songs in consecutive order if they do carry the same message so this might just be a bad song. First track on the album that I haven't enjoyed though so I'm not complaining.
6. I Will
Yeah, I'm not going to delve too deep into this song. I laughed my ass off during it and found it to be very relatable. You can look it up if you want to know what this is about.
7. Bruiser Brigade (Feat. Dopehead)
Similar to "Radio Song", this song comes off overly violent and makes a mockery of the Waka Flacka Flame type of song. He comes off so over the top that its obvious this isn't a serious song, while still getting his point across. Because of the context of the song, it's not hard to predict that this had a generic trap beat. Personally, I love these cleverly antagonistic songs, as they separate Danny Brown from the most of modern day rap.
8. Detroit 187 (Feat. Chip$)
As with the most of the album, the weird, almost whiny instrumentals couldn't set the mood any better for the odd personality of Danny, at least for this part of the album. Detroit 187 is filled is hilarious and quotable lyrics throughout such a giving a girls jaws stretch marks. Pretty funny shit, but his song doesn't do too much to set itself apart from the rest of the album.
9. Monopoly
The fact that this song starts with a clip from an old movie already makes this a good song in my book. Thankfully, he raps the best he has all album, as he doesn't even consider coming down from his high. At this point Danny's doing some pretty crazy shit, such as taking a shit on someone else's mixtape, in the most literal sense, which he makes very clear. The addition of a killer instrumental makes this one of the top songs on the album.
10. Blunt After Blunt
The base on this song hits you right in the face and continues to dominate the track. Danny comes off very antagonistic and lets us know he's tired of people talking about his image in a negative way. No offense to him, but I think we should all continue to ridicule his image because its causing him to release some really good music. Some rappers can come off almost laughable when they're angry, but this was very nice.
11. Outer Space
I love the way the beats on this album match the bizarre personality of Danny. Never is this more evident than on this track. The instrumentals has a weird electronic feel too it that feel very outer space-esque, which i guess is fitting. Lyrically, this is when you start realizing how terrible of a person Danny is, but that's what Adderall will do to you.
12. Adderall Admiral
And the winner of best title of a rap song that I've seen all day goes to "Adderall Admiral". While Danny is still plenty sporadic and out of his mind on this track, this marks the turning of the story as he begins to come down from his high. Not just because they're both from Detroit, but the way Danny raps about drug reminds be of an early Eminem. Take that Eminem and mix it with Ol' Dirty Bastard and just a hint of Andre 3000 and you have Danny Brown.
13. DNA
And here we've reached the point at which Danny has come down from his high and starts rapping in a more normal tone. This is a very cool track, as Danny talking about how his drug addiction runs in his family and that its in his DNA, and how he has comes to terms that it will play a big role in his life. He drops a few more bars about how good he is at rapping, but the main idea of the song and this part of the album as a whole is his drug addiction. Probably the best song on the album at this point.
14. Nosebleeds
The instrumental is extremely eerie, which fits the theme of the song nicely. Instead of talking about his own drug problems, he actually tells the story of a girl that is addicted to cocaine. Even though its not a great story or anything, this still displayed Danny's ability to tell a story.
15. Party All The Time
Danny tells another story of a girl that may or may not be the same one from the last track. He tells of how she obviously wants to party all the time, but mainly focuses one all the downsides of her lifestyle as her life eventually begins to fall apart. You don't have to go into too much thought to realize that Danny is talking about himself during the song, but he uses this as another chance to show is storytelling abilities
16. EWNESW
Although the acronym is kind of stupid, I still enjoyed this ode to Detroit. Danny talks about his childhood poverty and the struggles of growing up in Detroit, but its nothing different from any other rapper you'd hear from. The instrumental is the best part of the tracks and the only thing I can really remember. Its very jazzy and heavy on the organs and drums, which obviously make for a great instrumental.
17. Fields
This song and the last go together go together in perfect harmony. After the first verse just gets some pretty basic issues out of the way, Danny gets much more interesting when talking about his hood. We hear about some of the first times he did drugs and an his introduction to pills. The beat and rapping are much faster than the last song and come off as very urgent. Really nice song.
18. Scrap Or Die
After a two track break, Danny goes right back to his storytelling attempts, only this time, the song is pretty damn good and interesting. Danny and his uncle rob a house and such, which sound much more interesting when it is being told in the form of rap. Next day at the junkyard, Danny feels like he's been cheated out of a few bucks, but lets it go as his uncle rob an abandoned school. The beat is menacing and sets the tone very well.
19. 30
The album triumphantly ends with this monster. At this point, we've reached the final part of the album, where Danny is back on drugs and he sound very similar to the character he was portraying in the first half of the album. The beat is very intense, as everything gets crazy. Danny's life is falling apart, there's a part where he is being revived by paramedics after overdosing on pills, he's fighting voices in his head, and it finally climaxes with him signing with Fools Gold. I'd use the word hectic to describe the ending and that fact that its all done in three minutes in incredibly impressive
Rating: 4/5
While Danny is still developing his style of rap, there is enough changes of pace, mood swings, and personality to make this one of the best albums of 2011. The beginning and end of the album are good and at times even great, but there are times during the middle of the album that get a little boring and ultimately hold back the album from reaching its full potential. While I obviously recommend this, its crucial that you listen to the whole thing and get the full effect. As with tracks like "Radio Song", there are times where you have to think to figure out what the real goal of the songs are, but its not hard to figure them out. The albums free, so I have no idea why you wouldn't pick this up if you're a fan or want to get into Danny Brown. Feel free to comment below and let us know what you want us to review next and what you thought of the album. Until then, Peace.