“When It Rain” Is Danny Brown at His Best
The best Danny Brown songs have always been haphazard. From his EDM production to his signature squawk, Brown’s been capable of doing anything at anytime. XXX standouts like “Monopoly” were lyrical exercises: a creative expert combining seemingly disparate ideas into powerful imagery and similes. On Old’s, “Kush Coma” and “Dip,” he acknowledged his pain and addiction, but ignored them in favor of abandoning reality for wall-to-wall fun. Still, even when things were going well, he would throw in crushing lines like, “Eyes keep shaking and I can’t stay focused.” As a listener, vigilance was necessary.
“When It Rain” is the first we’ve heard from the Detroit rapper since he celebrated and put to rest “The Old Danny Brown” on his 2013 album. He sounds as hyperactive as ever—still with a preternatural ability to make end rhymes so compelling—and newly focused. Not once does he lament his substance intake, whether or not it’s still occurring. Instead, he moves naturally from an ambushing introduction into the trials and tribulations of surviving tough times. He may rob your grandmother, but he needs to eat. When he raps, “Dark clouds hanging all over our heads,” you wonder what “The Old Danny Brown” may have resorted to, but making his own difference in life is his priority now.
The song is not all dour, though. Paul White’s production is immaculate. A soft whirr sustains as deconstructed song parts–a demented saxophone, scattered drums, a güiro–flash above. Even more, Brown is proud of where he’s from, as he’s always been. It might get difficult, but he’d rather have his identity (eating crawfish, watching the Pistons) than come from somewhere charmless and easy. With “When It Rain,” Danny Brown has wrapped up his best qualities into one song. He is unmatchable in flow, delivery, and voice. He is a bit less lewd, and has zeroed in on the song’s most key details. Danny Brown has all the tools to be the greatest working rapper. It’s breathtaking when he puts them together.
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