BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - September 2016

ELECTRONICS DEPT.
DANNY BROWN
CLUBLAND
finding identity within timing and trajectory by Graeme Wiggins September 2016
For someone who occasionally calls himself the “Adderall
Admiral” and is known for a certain degree of altered-state
tomfoolery, Danny Brown is in a pretty chill place right now.
He explains, “I’m home. Right now I’ve just been trying to relax
and prepare myself mentally and take care of myself. Because you
know on the road, you can’t take care of yourself and, like, be healthy.
You have to eat shitty food, a lot of stuff you have no choice over.”
With his latest album Atrocity Exhibition coming out in September
and a tour in support, things are quickly about to get crazy for Brown.
It’s important that he do the right things to prepare: “Trying to drink a
lot of water. Like a detox, you know what I’m saying? I know I’m about
to be gone for the next three to four months so the best thing to do is
just sit around [and] relax.”
Atrocity Exhibition, named after a Joy Division song, is the spiritual
successor of his critically acclaimed album, XXX. For Brown, his music
is somewhat of a documentary about where he’s at. “Every album is
always pretty much about my life, you know? Whereas, with Old I
went back in time and let people know where I came from; with this
album it’s picking up where XXX left off,” he explains. Like a standup
comic who needs to take some time between writing in order to have
enough experiences in order to have something to joke about, Brown
needed some time to have life give him things to rap about. So if, the obvious
question is, XXX represented where he was at a few years ago, where
exactly is he at now? “I’m good. It’s the best I’ve [ever] been. Whenever
you can take that much time to make a project, obviously things have
to be going good. I feel like a lot of people just want to rush. They just
want to hurry and make money. They have to put out a new project
so they can work. With me, I just wanted to take a little time and live
life so I could have more stuff to write about, you know?”
That time was a luxury Brown felt he could afford, given the
state of hip hop today and his place in it. While it’s common for
the Young Thugs of the world to release upwards of five to 10
albums’ worth of material a year, Brown occupies a pretty singular
space in the industry. “I never really rush music like that. I don’t
have to try to stay relevant or anything like that. I’m in my own
lane doing my own thing. I don’t have competition or anything.
I don’t have to worry. I can’t lose my job from taking time off
because there ain’t no one doing what I’m doing.”
Press around the album so far suggests that musically it’s a
closer in sound to XXX than Old, but for Brown it’s really a little
more complicated than that. He clarifies: “I wouldn’t say that because
I think I always progress with every album, I just think that
it’s the closest thing that people can compare it to. I don’t want to
say that it’s a new thing because I think I’ve been on the road to
make music like this for awhile, I just think that now it’s coming to
realization in song form.” In the same sense that someone who is
trying to draw a picture from their mind’s eye and repetition slowly
brings the image closer and closer, the mental picture Brown
sees is his music getting closer to what he’s trying to achieve. “I
would say that when I make certain songs, you can make the same
song a thousand times and the thousandth one will be better than
the first one, you get me? A lot of these songs are songs that I’ve
probably made before now they are just bigger better faster and
stronger,” he maintains.
And don’t get the wrong idea: while there are more collaborations
on this album than previously, the songwriting remains
Brown’s. “I bring people in, but the songwriting is pretty much all
me; I don’t need help writing songs. Producing is one thing. I’m not
a producer, I’m a songwriter.” To make the point clearer, “I mean,
Prince didn’t have features, Michael Jackson didn’t need help
moonwalking, you know?”
Catch Danny Brown Live October 6 at the Vogue Theatre and check out
Atrocity Exhibition out September 30 on Warp Records.
by Vanessa Tam
While many citizens find themselves either lamenting the
finals days of summer or romanticizing the upcoming days
of fall layering, or both, the rest of us are celebrating the
onslaught of our favourite musician’s fall tour schedules. Count us
in with the latter as we round up the shows you should definitely be
checking out this September.
Anderson .Paak
September 4 @ PNE Amphitheatre
Supremely talented singer, rapper, producer and drummer Anderson
.Paak brings together years of hardship and experience to his one of a
kind neo-soul sound. Receiving his first major break by being featured
on six songs from Dr. Dre’s 2015 album, Compton, the artist has since
gone on to release his second studio album, Malibu, to much critical
acclaim. With features from major artists like BJ The Chicago Kid,
Schoolboy Q and The Game, the record remains on rotation for many
fans around the world.
Rome Fortune
September 10 @ The Alexander
Possibly just as recognizable for his interesting beard hues as he is by
his very deliberate flow, rapper Rome Fortune comes from a musical
family with roots tracing back to famous jazz musicians Richard Adderley
and Cannonball Adderley. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the prolific
rapper has released over eight EPs and mixtapes before releasing his
debut LP Jerome Raheem Fortune earlier this year.
NAO
September 24 @ The Biltmore Cabaret
Self described “Wonky Funk” songstress NAO is a classically trained
musician hailing from London, U.K. Touring her popular EP For All We
Know across North America this fall, she is definitely one of the most
interesting artists leading the popular alternative R&B wave that’s
currently on the rise.
Kaytranada
September 30 @ The Vogue Theatre
Growing up in Montreal, Canada, Kaytranada a.k.a. Louis Kevin
Celestin first started gaining popularity with his bootleg remixes of
Janet Jacket’s “If” and Amerie’s “Why Don’t We Fall In Love” during
the prolific bedroom producer era on SoundCloud. Inspired both by
‘90s R&B and 80s funk and disco, the producer’s highly anticipated
debut full length album 99.9% was released earlier this year and boasts
features by Canadian heavyweights Craig David, BadBadNotGood, and
River Tiber.
Time and experience has helped create a unique flavor for Detroit rapper
Anderson .Paak
14 ELECTRONICS DEPT.
September 2016