Black Milk & Danny Brown – Black and Brown
Vinylwav Personal Record Collection
Rap Frank Zappa, EXACTLY!
Man, Black and Brown—2011. Danny Brown was a force to be reckoned with. I picked up this album probably... geez, I don’t even know. It was a long time ago, not too far after its release. I’ve been playing a few of these tracks since it dropped. And I’ve always been checking for Black Milk—that might be due to the Dilla connection—but I was a fan from his very first release. So, anything Black Milk put out after that, I was peeping. And I think a lot of my friends were too.
Danny Brown, though? I kind of jumped on the bandwagon a little later than some of my crew. People were telling me, “Yo, you have to check out Danny Brown.” Then XXX dropped. I listened to it a couple times at first and honestly? I wasn’t really getting it. It wasn’t hitting me like it was hitting some of my boys who were immediately like, Danny Brown, Danny Brown! I just didn’t get it. The Quelle joint “Monopoly” was easy to appreciate, but many other songs took time.
But then I spent some quality time with it. I fought through that initial confusion. You listen to what he’s saying and how he’s saying it, and eventually, it clicks. Those first impressions and quick judgments? They shift—if you just give it time.
This album though—Black and Brown—the beats are right. Danny Brown’s all over it with strategically placed metaphors, punches, and gritty, ego-filled bars. Trials and tribulations. It's raw. It’s Detroit all day, and the chemistry between him and Black Milk is solid. Black Milk brings in these little word samples, snippets from movies or TV, that just add depth to what Danny's saying. Song great sung phrase samples, like folk rock epic mood pieces. It’s some real beat head shit, and Danny knows what to do with his space.
If I had to pick one, Zap might be my favorite song on the album. I love arpeggiating synth-driven soundscapes. And the way the drums come in? Man. I thought he was just rapping over a buildup, and then all of a sudden, he hits a certain line “Smoking on some thunder from the land of Supersonics”, and bam, the drums kick in—and it elevates the whole track. That line made the arpeggio and vocal even more heavy, so much so that I had to track down the sample source and purchase that album as well.
This album kind of flew under the radar, and I’m not sure why. I was actively looking for more Black Milk and Danny Brown after getting hip to Danny’s style, so I found this. But if you’re someone who relies on music to find you, rather than going out and digging for it, this one might’ve slipped past. That’s why I’m talking about it now—14 years later. Because I think it’s still worth your time.
There’s Black and Brown (the title track), Sound Check, Wake Up, Dada—all dope. If you're into hip-hop—this is it. That gritty, gutter shit? Yeah, this is where you want to be. And Danny Brown’s delivery? On point.
Give it a listen. It’s a good one.
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