Album Review: Danny Brown - uknowhatimsayin¿

Since his full-length debut XXX in 2011, Danny Brown has remained unapologetically different. Bursting onto the scene with skinny jeans, a toothless grin and haircut rivalling Skrillex; on first glance, he was everything old school rap heads were afraid of. But with a howling delivery and an affinity for creative similes, it turned out the Detroit rapper was just as abled as his affiliates. Never compromising his sound for wider acceptance, Danny remained a proud outsider that the ‘in-crowd’ couldn’t help but respect. Though looking at him now you may think his music would’ve been as dialled back as his image, uknowhatimsayin¿, his latest and fourth full-length album, yet again defies any expectation to deliver another unique listening experience.

Executively produced by the legendary Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest Fame, uknowhatimsayin¿ offers up Danny’s most vivid and direct array of stories that the now 38-year-old can offer up. From the album’s lead single ‘Dirty Laundry’ and its shocking subject matter of Danny and his Burger King bathroom-based sex antics and paying a hooker with the change in his glove compartment (and then seeing her use the change at the laundromat the next morning) to ‘Belly of The Beast’ which details how a woman “Tried to kill the d*ck, strangled them and choked ’em”, Danny Brown remains as unrelenting as the day he first arrived.

At just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, these tracks exemplify what Danny’s latest outing has compromised: absolutely nothing. Still relentlessly shameless and willing to stand his testaments against any other rapper’s, he perpetually challenges others to tell a story as wild as the ones he has in his locker. Alongside recounts of sexual deviancy, Danny often refers to his early years dealing drugs in his hometown Detroit, often linking his abrasive personality to his experience in the city. “My n*gga made a wrong turn, got flipped in the zone / Had to say I was a smoker just so I could go home” he raps on the JPEGMAFIA-produced ‘3 Tearz’, which features a staggering performance from rap duo Run The Jewels.

For Danny Brown, the devil is and always has been in the details. From his already established fondness for shocking storytelling to his ability to wriggle his vocal talent into the deepest recesses of ‘catchiness’; his wordplay remains his most valuable asset. Almost any bar on uknowhatimsayin¿, be it explanative, braggadocious or threatening is fused with Danny’s dry wit and twisted perspective on joke-telling, making each track found on the record an exciting prospect from a lyrical sense.

Across the board, Danny leads the charge on every song and proves, more often than not, that he can offer more than the instrumental. On the wailing guitar samples of ‘Savage Nomad’ he delivers bars like “My vocal take a green beret, kill the verse, leave booth decay / Service when I word it, sweet enough to leave a tooth decay” with the venom they deserve, while on the back end of the album on ‘Shine’ he showcases his razor-sharp comparative humour with the line “Everyday on the line like a free throw / Shit weak, like the knees on D. Rose”. Writing like this runs rampant throughout the album, each malignant-tinted bar further highlighting why Danny remains one of the most unique voices in hip-hop.

While Danny remains consistently lovable across uknowhatimsayin¿, the production can offer some misses alongside its hits. On first glance what’s up for grabs here is nothing if not unique – but when compared to the rest of Danny’s discography (especially the outrageous production on his last outing ‘Atrocity Exhibition’) it can actually be considered a little tame. On one side of the left-field, ‘Theme Song’ offers up a wonderful platform for Danny with its eery string sample and ‘Negro Spiritual’ has one of the most infectious basslines of the year, courtesy of Thundercat and Flying Lotus, yet on the other the side is the wailing horns of ‘Combat’ that come off as a poor man’s Madlib beat as well as the strangely forgettable title track that at times sounds like a backing for a 90’s video game menu screen – and not in a good way.

Despite these few shortcomings in the instrumental department, Danny still proves he’s one of the most unique voices in the genre. Embodying that drunk guy at the bar telling his stories to no one in particular – he rattles off to whoever will listen of his sexual escapades laced with self-referential anecdotes that serve as a reminder of both how far he’s come and how far he has to go. Unapologetic and steadfast, uknowhatimsayin¿ may limit his crazy a little too much at times, but Danny still shows that, even without his skinny jeans and missing tooth, he’s still hip-hop’s wildcard.

Reviewed by: Carter Fife