Danny Brown (born 16 March 1981) is an alternative hip-hop recording artist, hailing from Detroit, Michigan, who has achieved success with his several releases since 2010.
Well known for his outlandish lyrics, which often involve a voyeuristic view into his excessive recreational drug use and what he gets up to in the bedroom, Danny Brown has built up a reputation as an outsider in the hip hop industry, often using producers not associated with mainstream rap such as Rustie and BadBadNotGood.
The MC, whose real name is Daniel Dewan Sewell, found fame later on in his career, after spending his formative years dreaming of becoming a wealthy rapper, he found himself on the crime-laden streets of Detroit selling drugs, before a mildly successful stint with hip-hop group “ Rese'vor Dogs”.
He became known to rap fans in 2010 when he recorded “Hawaiian Snow” with G-Unit Records member Tony Yayo. After brief fruitless flirtations with 50 Cent’s aforementioned label (there were disagreements on Brown’s image) and a string of independent mixtapes, he released his debut album “The Hybrid, his first project to feature his now distinct high pitched nasal vocal style.
As the album generated a buzz online, Brown garnered the attention of Brooklyn’s Fools Gold records, founded by former Kanye West tour DJ A-Trak, who signed him and distributed his second, critically acclaimed, release “XXX” in 2011. Many reviewers cited the album as an indication of the future of hip-hop in the Internet age.
Following on from the success of XXX, Brown quickly got to work on a follow up project. The result was this third and most recent album, “Old”, titled so in reference to his elder status amongst his younger peers in the current wave of Internet rappers, which was a commercial and critical success, reaching #18 on the Billboard charts.
Often seen dancing wildly with his lounge out on stage, Danny Brown has brought his rock star like performances world at various festivals such as Coachella and Glastonbury, He also recently toured with frequent collaborators, A$AP Rocky and Schoolboy Q. Of course true to Danny’s “weirdo rapper” status he has also also performed and recorded unlikely indie artists such as Vampire Weekend and Purity Ring.
Patti LuPone
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