The Edge

Post-punk and hip hop aren’t common genres to hear mixed together but on his new release Danny Brown manages to mix the two in a genre bending album that is a ground breaking change from traditional hip hop music. The title Atrocity Exhibition is a reference to the song of the same name by the iconic post-punk band Joy Division. Brown says that he was deeply inspired by Joy Division’s dark sound and wanted to bring that post-punk attitude to a hip hop album. Danny Brown’s past albums have common themes of overt drug use, but if his early work was the party, this album is the hangover. Brown’s lyrics paint a very dark picture of the effects of drug use and of his home, Detroit, Michigan. The beats are dark and disjointed, never settling into a predictable groove. This unique sound is apparent from the first track “Downward Spiral” where Danny Brown raps over an uncomfortable disjointed beat that could be a track pulled straight from a sonic youth album.  The album is also very multi-dimensional. The track “Really Doe” is a throwback to old-school hip hop that feature a simple boom bap drum beat with haunting bells hanging in the background that provides the atmosphere for Brown and fellow rappers Kendrick Lamer, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt to trade flows over. The track is the most traditional song on the album and is a phenomenal ode to old posse cuts like A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario”. Another standout track, “Ain’t it Funny”, is a wild song that features loud brash synths and Brown’s trademark high pitched yelp rap style. Like post-punk Brown in exploring wild sounds very rarely heard in hip hop which is likely to turn a lot of people off from this project but if you are interested in left-field hip hop trying to think outside the box, this album is one to check out. -Kyle