Danny Brown
XXX


4.5
superb

Review

by Will R. EMERITUS
October 13th, 2013 | 1183 replies


Release Date: 2011 | Tracklist

Review Summary: The soundtrack to hedonism

“Turning to these drugs, now these drugs turned my life / And it's the downward spiral, got me suicidal / But too scared to do it so these pills will be the rifle.” Thus begins Danny Brown’s fantastic XXX, a mixtape firmly establishing the Detroit rapper as a mainstay in the underground hip-hop scene. It’s an appropriate way to encapsulate the release as a whole, as it tells the tale of a young man alternately rocketed to unknown heights in the wake of drugs, partying, sex, and the high life and scared out of his wits because of how high (both figuratively and literally) he’s gotten. Sure, Brown seems cocksure all the way through the album’s 53-minute runtime, and his dynamic flow reflects just how confident he is in his mic skills. As he puts it, “[My] flow can make Gandhi grab the burner, wanna shoot shit.” One of the main reasons he’s such an interesting MC is because he fully believes he’s that good.

But XXX is also the story of Brown coming to terms with his newfound fame and popularity. With success inevitably comes fair-weather friends, stress, a loss of privacy, and in Brown’s case drinking and drugging almost until death. Brown is horribly worried about his future, and his brushes with death - at the hands of too much Adderall or alcohol - have him concerned. However, with this concern comes even more excess and hedonism - if he’s going to die, Brown wants to go out in a blaze of glory. And it’s this grotesque chronicling of his lifestyle which makes XXX such an attractive album. There aren’t many other artists who can make a good song entirely about cunnillingus, and the fact that Brown does exactly this - with such relative inexperience, no less - is nothing short of impressive. No matter whether he’s popping yet another pill, having sex for the umpteenth time, or smoking “blunt after blunt after blunt”, Brown celebrates how his life has turned out in possibly the most intensely cracked way possible.

It’s precisely how over-the-top the mixtape is that settles it as one of the great hip-hop releases of the past few years. Brown’s lively lyricism and the brilliantly schizophrenic and experimental production form a beautiful team, and the release benefits greatly from every nasally whine, every trippy 808 and unearthly synth hook. XXX does things other rappers wouldn’t dare approach - as Danny points out himself, “This is anti-clean rap...That's why these wack rappers, they never last long / Don't care about music, just radio songs.” More than everything else, then, XXX is a display of passion. Danny cares about his hedonistic, destructive lifestyle, and being who he is he’d rather die than stop moving like he does on the mixtape. XXX is an absolutely essential hip-hop release in the age of Internet distribution and excess, and as the extreme of the lyrical tameness spectrum it’s necessary for anyone who claims to be at all knowledgeable about hip-hop.



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user ratings (1474)
4.1
excellent
other reviews of this album
valrus (4.5)
Alternately over-the-top, terrifying, unhinged, disgusting, and exhilarating, sometimes all five at ...

BonzoDatShit (5)
Meet Danny Brown. Party animal/depressive writer. Drug addict, explicit descriptor. Nonconformist. B...

HolidayKirk (5)
"Danny. Party's over you gotta go man... Danny? Danny?!?"...



Comments:Add a Comment 
Brostep
Emeritus
October 13th 2013


4491 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Trying a bit of an experiment here, let me know how it turned out.

bach
October 13th 2013


16343 Comments


Got that income-tax-swag

climactic
October 13th 2013


22765 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

TROPICAL FRUIT SKITTLES

chitownflip
October 13th 2013


173 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I never know if I should be impressed or disgusted with I Will, I mean wow. Love the beat though

Brostep
Emeritus
October 13th 2013


4491 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I Will is a fucking amazing song, I don't really know why but it's so explicit that it's awesome

oltnabrick
October 13th 2013


40768 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I'm on the first page







Hi mom

Hermano
October 13th 2013


60 Comments


lol'd at a particular line in this review.

Greyvy
October 13th 2013


5866 Comments


who doesnt like i will tho lets be real

Aids
October 13th 2013


24542 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

30 is still the best Danny Brown song

Brostep
Emeritus
October 13th 2013


4491 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Hermano gets the experiment

Aids
October 13th 2013


24542 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

is the "experiment" that the last line is retarded?

Brostep
Emeritus
October 14th 2013


4491 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

nope, but point taken

Hermano
October 14th 2013


60 Comments


I did, clever indeed.

luci
October 14th 2013


12844 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

I caught it

Aids
October 14th 2013


24542 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

oh haha nice



i read the first and last paragraphs, skipped the middle. you got me!!!!!11

Phlegm
October 14th 2013


7250 Comments


new XXX thread where are the quotes???

Brostep
Emeritus
October 14th 2013


4491 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

all right now that people actually notice i can take it out and it can be a legit review

Greyvy
October 14th 2013


5866 Comments


rollin on some purple that my niggas call grimace

Phlegm
October 14th 2013


7250 Comments


limits have ceilings cause his pops behind walls

Calc
October 14th 2013


17463 Comments


so why's this better than old?



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