Danny Brown Bruiser Brigade EP (free download)

In 2010 a man named Danny Brown, with fewer connections to Detroit Hip Hop then people would like to imagine,  with a few choice collaborations under his belt (including with Dilla and Black Milk) released The Hybrid.  It took a few years for the adenoid squawk of his voice to gain popularity outside of very limited circles that began with a core following of backpack enthusiasts, radiating out to strip club bartenders, and so on.  But a hybrid of what?  It seemed fairly clear that it was a hybrid of electronic music, of the abandoned building and huge speaker cabinet variety, and hip hop.  On last year's XXX which garnered top honours from everyone from Spin to Pitchfork as one of if not the best Hip Hop album of the year, it was certainly a jagged little antidote to the greasy chutzpah of Drake and his protege The Weaknd.  Danny deserves all of the attention, modelling his prodigious output on Lil B's similar grind and MF Doom's meticulous plotted-out-on-paper assaults, over a very local style of Detroit Ghettotech inspired beats, all with as he will admit a 'hood grade 2 vocabulary'. 

 



The zeitgeist for Danny was right in 2012 his 'crackhead made good' over slick disjointed beats just seemed like a winning formula. In fairness despite missing his front tooth (from a 'nasty bike accident') Danny did indeed sell a good amount of crack (hear Greatest Rapper Ever from The Hybrid) but was not a crack user, he freely admits serious abuse of the prescription drug Adderal (hear Adderal Admiral off XXX, or a more thoughtful take on Prescription Rx from The Hybrid) as well as Molly- a popular name for MDMA that is pure as the driven snow and likely acquired by a reliable source).  Danny's been talking up Bruiser Brigade,  well, since the song Bruiser Brigade appeared on XXX, as his twisted version of something like G Unit or whatever DMX called his crew.  It sounds a bit more like Danny Brown's Tuesday Night Nintendo Club as DB is notorious for not leaving the house and having his small circle of friends and 'collaborators' over to his place.  Bruiser Brigade is: Danny Brown, Chip$ (currently incarcerated), MC Dopehead (Danny's cousin) and their gangly white producer SKYWLKRwho produced the majority of XXX's beats and with whom Danny seems most comfortable if not most challenged by. 

Danny's found the label home he set out to get at A Trak's Fool's Gold imprint.  The Bruiser Brigade EP is available for free download through their offshoot Scion A/V.