Swimming alone in a sea swarming with hip hop crews, Danny Brown stands out. The nearly 15 years it took him to break through and sign with Fool’s Gold probably sounds absurd to the teenagers and early 20-somethings of A$AP Mob, OFWGKTA, and Pro Era, but — well, actually it’s just absurd.
When he finally dropped XXX in 2011, Danny sounded ready to devour the entire rap game. The album is a sprawling, career-encompassing confession about drugs, sex, and death narrated by a man stranded at the two extremes of a hard lifestyle. But it was the hilarity that distinguished XXX and Brown from the other rags-to-riches rappers. I’ll be blunt and spare the details: these aren’t the jokes you go home and tell your folks over dinner.
Unfortunately, harsh lyrics are just one in a handful of ways Brown makes cautious listeners uncomfortable: his delivery is nasally; his beats chopped and brash. The dude hasn’t been sober in like three years, and his appearance doesn’t beg to differ. But under the layers lies one of the most original, talented, and hardworking rappers today.
Rap shows aren’t an every day occurrence at the High Noon, especially of this caliber. Waiting 15 seasons on the bench to get into the game taught Danny a thing or two about giving 110 percent once you get in. On Saturday he’ll be performing alongside CRASHprez — a 19-year-old UW-Madison phenom — and Kitty for what’s sure to be a professional and intense night of music.