Danny BrownOld
Fool's Gold

- On his first tour of Australia, I had the fair pleasure of meeting and interviewing Danny Brown and the man lived up to everything I had expected from his lyrics and image: from weed to Nandos, which were the footnotes of the experience. A few years on comes Old and if I heard this record those years ago I would have never interviewed Mr Brown.

That's not to say that this record is bad, it’s just that it is a departure for Brown and one that completely abandons the obscure samples and lyrics that created a more realistic experience than any other rapper had in years, really defined a sound for him and as result catapulted him from selling drugs into the world of a moderate sized hip-hop star. Now we have Old which sounds noticeably influenced by Hyphy, grime, future pop and EDM, to name just a few things.

The recording process is eyecatching, too. Having taken a solid two years and being Brown's sophomore, he was quoted as saying "I made XXX with the aim of getting great reviews. And when I started making Old, I was trying to think of artists that came back from getting great reviews and made an album that was just as good – or better! The only group I could really come up with was Radiohead. So if XXX was my OK Computer, then I’d have to make my Kid A next." It does feel as if this is Danny Brown's Kid A and, as a fan of XXX (Danny Brown's, Ok Computer) it is alienating to hear this record let alone describe it. In fact, Brown doesn't even make any real vocal appearance until the album's fourth oddity Wonderbread.

The album is split into Side A and Side B and are notably distinct in their approach and the resultant sound. Side A feels - in some ways - more depressing, signposted by song titles such as Torture, Loneley and Clean Up. As if he'd exorcised his demons by writing them down on paper, and no longer felt the need to dwell on them, Brown, here, comes across as far more comfortable in his role as lyricist rather than rapper; he might as well not be there for most of Side A.

Side B opens with Dope Song and it feels a little closer to being something Brown might want to be affiliated with, despite sounding, at times, like a Hype Williams track, underscored by ensuing numbers Dubstep and especially Dip. In fact, this side of the record feels as if it was purely designed to please people on ecstasy at festivals, a dirty little fan-service Brown even acknowledged in a recent interview, where he conceded that most of his income is derived from festivals. So I suppose this is why there is a song called Smokin' & Drinkin', why Handstand builds and fades like a strung out meth-head at a club, trying to twerk up against anything with a pulse and why the Kush Coma featuring A$AP Rocky was included on the final cut.

Then it ends with the strangely beautiful Float On which is the best thing on the record, except, once again, Danny isn't on it. More bewildering is why the EXCELLENT, psychedelic ODB didn't even make the album, despite being used to promote it. Old is just fucking confusing. So, is it genius? Maybe. Is it a horrible cash grab that is strangling the life out of that genius? Maybe. Really, I seriously don't know anymore.

- Brad Armstrong.

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