Gone Danny Gone

Danny Swain.

Another track, another hip hop entry

This is “Speed” by Danny! This song comes from his most recent album, which might actually be his best, called Payback! The wait for this album was kinda of nerve wrecking, with Danny! bouncing between labels and all sorts of other stuff, but eventually the good people at Okayplayer signed him. Which led to his first TV appearance on Jimmy Fallon and the release of Payback! an album that had been in the making and even FINISHED way before it actually ended up coming out. The fact that Danny! isn’t more popular is kind of a mystery to me. His content, especially on this album, doesn’t alientate the listener at all, especially on this album, where he tackles well: normal people problems mixed in with the problems of being a rapper whose career is finally taking off with this huge signing to okayplayer. I have been a fan of Danny! since Charm and I have to say that he has never really dissapointed me. He is a great MC and the fact that he produces all of his own shit gives a very cohesive, smooth and at times jazzy sound to his albums, something very valuable in an era where people follow what I call the “Life After Death”(Biggie Album) formula: which means you have all types of tracks, for all types of people, with allot of different sounds, some of which sound kind of awkward due to the nature of MC or the rest of the tracks on the album. Let it be known that I’m not dissing Biggie, or that album, because there it was actually done well, but when you are listening to say, recent Nas albums, don’t you wonder why he included things like “Summer on Smash”? Anyway Danny! makes good hip hop that fans of that jazzy/smooth hip hop sound that has almost completely been pushed away from the mainstream should check out

Anyway moving on to the track. “Speed” is my favorite song by far on this album for various reasons. The narrative of the song, in the song we are presented with the opinions of three characters all rapped by Danny: Danny’s mom, Danny’s little sister and Danny himself. Danny’s little sister expresses concern for the way Danny’s life is going due to the pressures of the “rap game”, because she looks up to him and doesn’t want him to be taken advantage of or even worse: end up back on the streets or resort to drugs(like Eminem). His mom, expresses concern about his new money getting him into the wrong crowd “sometimes your enemies and friends are one in the same”, which could eventually get him killed. Her “soul is tired”, she wants Danny to get his act together. After this, we delve into the mind of a care-free weed smoking/drinking Danny! who is driving. He describes the craziness of his new life as a rapper, the support letters he has recieved from his family and the fact that he doesn’t know HOW to respond to them. He concludes that he needs to get his head right, before he ends up dead and then ironically “oh is that a red light”, crashes. 

people are still listenin'

Song of the Day: Che Grand feat. Tanya Morgan - “Trainspotting”

As I get ready to get on the subway to head to school what better song but this one to start my day with? Problem is I’m not seeing the type of girls that are described here on my ride to North Philly.