The return of Danny Brown, a young gun of Irish Hip Hop, and modern Horrorcore: October was an interesting month to say the least.
anny Brown – uknowhatimsayin¿
Danny Brown returns, following up his amazing 2016 release, Atrocity Exhibition, an album that defined Danny an artist. Here was a man that talked so openly about his drug abuse and problems, but now was laying them bare in a way that had lost it’s intriguing edge, and had now made it’s way into a bitter, enthralling reality. It nearly broke Danny as an artist, from the themes to the production, which saw him forking over $70000 to clear samples. While it was critically acclaimed and adored by fans, it didn’t sell well and left him in debt. So now the question arose of how he would follow this up. Here we have an artist, recovering from drug addiction, on a new cleaner path in life, and while he was happy to make “timeless stuff” with Atrocity Exhibition, the approach he took wasn’t financially viable to replicate. Regardless of this, and to the delight of fans and critics alike, Danny has presented us with an album that maintains his quirkiness, his grimey charm, and his unflinching view of his past.
Twangy guitar chords open intro track Change Up, the beat crafted by Danny’s regular collaborator, the fantastic Paul White. At the very beginning, Danny sums up at what point he is in his life; “They thought I was gone, back from the grave / Mind of a master, blood of a slave / Heart of a king, stuck in between / The devil and an angel on my shoulder when I speak / Lost in the streets, found on the beat”. The legendary Q-Tip offer up his production skills on Dirty Laundry, which see Danny rap about his drug-laced days of the past and bizarre sex escapades; Danny might be clean, but he can still regale us with the ludicrous stories of his past. While I would have liked JPEGMAFIA to have more than verse one verse on this album, his first feature comes in the way of production on 3 Tearz, and sees Run The Jewels join Danny on the verses. With punching chorus and interesting verse, it’s nice to hear RTJ back together. On Best Life, Danny casts off the shackles of his rough upbringing and criminal past, celebrating his new path in life, a positive one. This is topped off by soulful and peppy beat, provided once again by Q-Tip. On the titular track, Danny is joined by Obongjayar, both of them delivering bars about positivity in the face of adversity, something Danny is well accustomed to. JPEGMAFIA makes his second appearance on the album on Negro Spiritual, joining Danny on the hook, while Thundercat and Flying Lotus offer their production. With this track Danny once again dips into the his past; driving driving, high as kite, armed and ready to fight. On the second verse, he recognises how far he has come, and he’s not going to let anyone talk him down.
Danny Brown has come a long way in his life. He has been in the rap game for a while now, and with every release, he garners new fans, more attention, and well deserved praise. With an assortment of producers and a handful of well-placed features, Danny has brought the best out of himself. We are seeing the progression of a man who has been through the ringer, and has made it out to the other side, baring the marks but wearing them proudly. Danny is a treasure in this scene, and should be treated as such.
Fynch – Bookies Pens & Loose Ends
Right now, Ireland is in the midst of Hip Hop golden age. Rappers from all over the country are making waves, forming groups and collective, playing sold out shows, getting support slots with massive international acts, hosting radio shows, going on tours around the UK and Europe, even getting sampled by big names from the States. Young Irish voices are being heard in the media and on the radio like you would any other Hip Hop/RnB star; no longer is the term “Irish Hip-Hop” a pigeonhole for something that receives a luke-warm “ah isn’t it great they’re giving it a go all the same” from people who think Eminem is still dominating the charts. Irish rappers are giving voice to so many different aspects of young Irish life, from the housing crisis, to how the government is failing us, and the impacts this has on relationships, goals, and ambitions. One of the rappers who offers his take on this is “Drimnagh’s Human Sacrifice”, Fynch.
A football fanatic, a journalism graduate, and ready to have a scrap with a Fine Gael TD at any given moment; this is the recipe for Fynch, and his mindset on his debut EP is that of a disgruntled 20-something with more than a few bones to pick. “I’m a dope in sheep’s clothing, got no hope but still going, still going”, the lyrics of the titular track are something the majority of young people in Ireland can resonate with; working in a dead end job just to get through your degrees only to realise it’s a rat race on the other side. This feeling of discontent continues on Like Me, with Fynch questioning whether a degree is worth 12 grand if nothing is going to come from it. “22 now, nothing figured out”, Fynch is distilling what so many people his age in Ireland feel like, abandoned by government who couldn’t care less, but still holding onto to an spiteful sense of hope “poxy needle in the stack…I’ll find it”.
Saipan has one of the best beats to come out of Ireland this year, provided by the brilliant Jar Jar Jr. The lyric are equally fantastic, drawing on the infamous Saipan fued of 2002 between Roy Keane and Mich McCarthy to reference disillusion with the music scene and the pursuit of art. Fynch’s wordplay is effortlessly clever, dropping lines like “Triggs does not mean trigger but my dogs will catch a body”, and closing out the song with the “Not to take the Mick, I just need to manage”. On the closing track Milk Teeth, Fynch is joined by Burner Records label-mate, Marcus Woods. The beat is mellow and wavy, and the once again we see Fynch’s penchant for hilarious word play; “the finest heel turn in Dublin 12 since Brennan’s Bread” may possibly the only line in all of Hip Hop that references a slice pan, and I’m here for it.
As I said, Irish Hip-Hop is in truly going through it’s Golden Age right now. With artist like Fynch casting their eye over Ireland’s issues and turning it into hard-hitting, introspective music, we are seeing an artistic edge to the dysfunction that is so prevalent in the life of young people in the country. If what Fynch says resonates with you, it’s time to look at how you can influence change, and that can start by registering to vote.
clipping. – There Existed An Addiction to Blood
Industrial, left-field Hip-Hop has always had it’s place in the scene. It began to carve a larger and more visible place in the mainstream with the help of Death Grips, their devastatingly style and crushing sound had people dying for more of the same. In 2013, clipping. joined the ranks of the Industrial scene. Now on their third studio album, clipping. present a thrilling project, laced with creepy vocals samples, menacing vocal performances, and production that cuts like a razor.
David Diggs is the vocal front of clipping., an MC with a warm voice and temperate tone. In another group, he would be the smooth MC that drops the thirst verse in a posse cut that everyone say is there favourite. On this album however, that smooth voice delivers stories of that are like audible sleep paralysis. Nothing is Safe acted as the lead single and the musical intro to the album. Sampling the infamous theme from the original Halloween, and with a crescendo that build and peaks at the end of the 2nd verse, you feel uneasy right away. He Dead follows, the unnerving instrumentals continue. “How fast can them bare feet run? The answer is barely, isn’t it? But you can’t stop for the pain”, the lyrics offer no solace from the looming sense of an unknown threat. The interlude Haunting has a woman detailing how she is convinced Satan is trying to kill her. The follow track La Mala Ordina lays it on heavier with no quarter, “The bags on the table ain’t for weight, they for body parts. Victim skin stretched across the wall, call it body art”. Talk of drugs and murder, what perfect time to feature 2019 breakout star Benny the Butcher, who continues to prove he doesn’t have one bad verse.
As the album progress to the second half, the tributes to Horrorcore continue. If this is Horrorcore, and after dozens of listens, I think it’s fair to say it’s Post-Horrorcore. Run for your Life is a perfect example of this; the weighted breaths that play across the across the track, La Chat offering here Gangsta Boo-like “You ain’t scared is you?” ad-libs. On Blood of the Fang, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes bring Flatlander-esque production. “Drink it up, drink it up”, at this point the overwhelming sense of doom is massive. Attunement opens with grating feedback, so grating in fact, you wouldn’t be blamed for ripping out your earphones. Diggs smooth voice delivers rapid bars of this feedback which now creates the beat, his closing lyrics of the final verse are poignantly grim “You are not a body, you’re a metal shell and you can see the rust.”, before the track abruptly ends, making way for the 18 minute closing track, which is a recording of a piano burning. The wood crackles, the wind blows fans the flames as the strings begin to snap. I feel oddly ashamed to say that I have not listened to all 18 minutes (which takes up an entire side of the 2nd disc of the vinyl pressing).
This album is wholly unnerving. Audibly, the group have distilled what makes a horror film great, you can be uneasy, shocked, and scared, but you can’t look away. Front to back, this album is unsettling, but is thoroughly enthralling, and marks clipping. as one of the most interest groups in the Hip-Hop scene.
Incoherent Music Rants 