Danny Brown is an iconic figure in the hardcore hip-hop community, known for his unique style of rapping and iconic voice. First gaining popularity with his Mixtape, “XXX,” and his third album, “Atrocity Exhibition,” which is one of the most acclaimed albums in the world of experimental hip-hop. His last albums were his partnership with JPEGMafia, “Scaring the H**,” and his solo project, “Quaranta.” The collaboration was a match made in heaven with Peggy’s dark and glitch production style mixing perfectly with Danny’s craziness. Quaranta was Danny’s “Mr. Morale” and focused on a more emotional side of his craziness. While the album is good, I found this project overshadowed by the great collaboration with Peggy. But now, Danny is back and here to give another notable appearance.
The first single, “Starburst,” tells you all you need to know about how this album is going to sound. The production brings this crazy vibe of synth that feels like it’s a light show going past your head, as these buzzy synths are substituted for a bass that is noisy but not overpowering the light show. Danny’s flow matches perfectly with the speed of the song and gives a great performance while continuing to show off his signature vocal style that he is known for. But this song keeps on giving, as not long after the song begins, the beat switches to something more sinister, making that light show more of a flashing lights warning to anyone who loves synths. It feels like the speed of the song is non-stop until it suddenly stops almost out of nowhere and turns into a spoken word for an outro. The sinister vibe is maintained and slows to give more attention to Angel Emoji, one of the members of the hyperpop duo, First Children. This single perfectly sets up the album to have more of a focus on a hyper/electro pop vibe to the production values.
This style is more evident in the last single, “Copycat.” This song features both production and a vocal credit from Indietronica artist Underscores. She is an example of the huge amount of indie electronic features on this album that feels like it’s been the best of 2025, since most of these artists have released something this year, and all have been nothing but bangers. Jane Remover has released her best, and I think one of the best albums of this year, and, like him or hate him, Quadeca, also released a really great album. The beat of this song is similar to something that charli xcx would make, very house-based and hyper. The energy doesn’t let up and even builds, and with each verse, it becomes very exciting, which keeps me engaged the whole time. With these singles, I was given a good idea of what I’m going to expect from this album, and I was excited for the release.
“Book of Daniel” was the first track for the album and features the production and vocals from Quadeca, who has had features from Danny on his own albums since 2022. This song is very mellow compared to the rest of the album. This is a signature of Quadeca’s production style where he gives more of a focus on atmosphere and slowly builds it up until at the end where it comes crashing down in a crescendo into a nice ending. While predictable, it still works well. This song seems to be a reflection of Danny’s influence and history as a rapper. He sings, “Before they chisel the last four numbers on my tombstone/Know I left so many sons behind, could fill a group home/Inspired your favorite, so label me the greatest/This road was filled with potholes ’til I came through and paved it.” He talks about how his success helped pave the way for other artists similar to his style. He also talks about who he thinks the real top three are and references his song, “Really Doe,” which features Kendrick Lamer and Earl Sweatshirt. It’s a bit scattered in its storytelling, but it works as a start to this album.
The last track I’m going to talk about is called “1999.” Featuring Digicore producer JOHNNASCUS, this song is the definition of Digicore. It derives from a form of hip hop called Glitch Hop, based on a glitchy electronic production style that can be intense and heavenly at the same time. Digicore is when you take Glitch Hop, inject it with Gen Z internet culture and steroids, creating this noisy mess of glitch and chaos. This track is no different, as this is one of Danny’s most intense songs he has ever recorded. The madness just doesn’t stop as your ears keep getting assaulted from every angle. Now, I do have to say, this is kind of an acquired taste, and I very much do not like normy music. But if you can look past that, I swear this song is a good time.
I found this release to be good, but not the best that he could be. I do like his collaborations with artists that are more niche and lesser known, and I also liked the house and techno influences on this album, adding to the growing total of great electronic dance music from this year. If I could say something bad about this album, it’s that it can be a bit forgettable at times, and not all the features added that much were interesting or exciting. Nonetheless, I’m going to give this album an 8 out of 10.
