Despite a troubled past topped off by a year-long jail stint, Danny Brown maintains a strikingly serene and friendly disposition. Over the past several years, the Detroit rapper released a handful of well-crafted mixtapes, his most recent XXX yielding widespread acclaim, including a nod from Spin for rap album of the year. As dark as some of the album’s lyrics are, Brown’s no gangsta rapper; he wears super skinny jeans, for starters. In fact, his vivid descriptions of blighted urban landscapes have some calling him hip-hop’s Cormac McCarthy. You’re in L.A. pretty frequently and have referenced the Standard and the Do-Over in your music. What’s your favorite thing about the city?
The weather and the weed, you know? The women, the weather, the weed, and the clothes.

A lot of people don’t know you’re part Filipino. Do you feel any connection to that culture when you come out West?
My grandma is Filipino and my dad is Filipino, so I’m just a quarter, but it’s cool to meet Filipino people that share the same upbringing. We can share a lot of the same stories and stuff about growing up, because there aren’t too many Filipino people out here.

Dilla was out here the past couple years of his life and talked about the connection between the L.A. and Detroit quite a bit. Do you notice any similarities between the two cities?
I would say we have more of similarity with Oakland, but I think the love of that sound, L.A. embraced it a little more than we did. Now I think we’ve caught up, but L.A. is just a place where people are more free to make good music.
​Do you ever get tired of people lumping you in with Lil B and Odd Future under the “internet rapper” umbrella?
Nah, I’d rather be poppin’ on the internet than on TV. TV has been around forever and not that the internet is new, but it ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. I don’t watch TV. Pretty much everything I watch comes from the internet, and I know I’m not the only person like that. So I’m definitely happy with my situation.
Since you’re so much older than those artists, how much differently are you dealing with success?
If I was a 20 year old kid, I wouldn’t know how to act right now, but being that I am 30 and I have an 11-year-old daughter, I’ve got bigger problems than being on the computer in some Twitter beef.

Do you ever find rappers or producers not wanting to collaborate because of the clothes you wear?
I think it’s more like a real recognize real thing more so than with the music, so I think that a lot of the people that relate to me are people that have been through similar situations. Somebody like Schoolboy Q, I don’t want to stereotype anyone, but I wouldn’t expect him to wanna fuck with me because of the way that I look. But he’s able to look past that because of the music and I think that’s pretty cool.
Do you kind of feel a similar kinship with A$AP Rocky?
The thing is with Rocky, I feel like we kind of come from the same shit. The same way people would stereotype him for the way he looks I think I get the same thing, so I think we can vibe off that. We’ve got that thing in common where people kind of treat us a certain way because of the way we look.

​There’s a lot of graphic detail in your lyrics on XXX. What was the most difficult thing for you to rap about?
The most difficult rhyme is me saying “Left behind a daughter that don’t even really know him,” and that just, that sucks because we’re with each other all the time, but it’s more so that the relationship has changed. Me and her mom aren’t together anymore, and when I was in situation where I could be around her all the time, I didn’t have money and I couldn’t really support her. Now that I do have money and I can support her a little better, I have no time to be with her.
It sucks, because she doesn’t really know me. She knows her father and I think she knows my personality traits, but with the music thing, she doesn’t really get that because she doesn’t really see me on TV or hear me on the radio. I mean, she sees me on magazines and stuff, and I think she’s proud of her daddy being in a magazine. Maybe it will change when she gets a little older, but at this point I don’t think we really know each other the way we should.

So you said she sees you in magazines and stuff. Other than that, she isn’t really aware of your career?
No, and I think I kind of like it like that too. There’s part of me that wants to keep her sheltered from it, rather than her knowing her daddy is this thugged out, raw dog rapper.

You talk about selling and taking drugs a lot in your music and mentioned being addicted to Adderall in an interview a while back. Is that still a necessary part of your creative process?
Yeah it is because I haven’t really been working without it, but I don’t really need it to work. Like if I was in a situation where I had to write someone a verse or do a 16 or a feature I wouldn’t need it, but if I really wanna sit down and write 3 or 4 songs in a night I’ll take it.
There’s been like a shortage recently since the FDA put a limit on production.
Yeah, I know. It sucks. My situation is it’s harder to get it from people that actually have prescriptions. It’s easier just to find a regular person that sells them on the street now. So you know, I’ve just been taking it slow. I learned that snorting it makes it last a little longer.

You talk a lot on Twitter about your love for grime and indie rock. Who are some of your favorite artists that people might not expect?
With grime I like everybody, but I definitely think Boy Betta Know is killing it the hardest, JME and all them. There’s a new guy named Scruffizer that I think is gonna be pretty good.
In the indie rock scene, I pretty much just listen to what everybody else is listening to, whatever gets a good review. I probably wouldn’t have listened to that St. Vincent album if it didn’t get good reviews, but it’s pretty good. As far as indie rock, I think Sufjan Stevens is probably my favorite though.

Since you’ve had pretty well defined concepts with your last two albums, do you have any sort of vision for the next project?
Now, I’m just trying to make the best possible songs that I can. As I record more with this album, it’ll eventually take on a life and a concept just like XXX did. It’s not like I’m ever thinking I’m going to make a certain type of album. I just start making songs, and influences from other albums I’ve studied help me to start crafting it.

Thanks for your time. We’ll be looking forward to the show.
Yeah man, I’m anxious to get out of this gloomy weather and get out there.

It’s going down Sunday, December 18th @ Ambiente in Alhambra, CA

The new artists join a Hip-Hop heavy roster of artists that includes Mos Def and Talib Kweli, Immortal Technique, Asher Roth and Nottz as Rawth, Krizz Kaliko, Tabi Bonney, DJ Muggs, Sick Jacken, DJ Exile vs. Blu, Bambu and Planet Asia and others.

“It is with great pride that I announce E-40 will be headlining the ‘Dues Paid’ stage,” Murs said. “As far as independent rap goes, he was the first to get his label major distribution. From Master P to El-P, he pioneered the artist/CEO business model in Hip-Hop.”

Additionally, The Black Hippy Collective, which features Jay Rock, Ab Soul, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q will hit the stage on the West coast themed ‘Dues Paid’ tour.

“Individually they are a force to be reckoned with, but collectively they have to be my favorite group in the world right now,” said Murs.

This year’s festival, which is being in produced with Guerilla Union, will have three stages with over 40 live performances.

In addition to the main stage and the “Dues Paid” stage, there will be a “Grind Time Now” stage by the rap battle league Grind Time Now, that will incorporate rap battles.

To drum up more hype for the tour, Murs himself will embark on “The Road to Paid Dues Tour,” which is a 35-date tour across the United States and Canada that will kick off on February 17th and make its final stop at the start of the Paid Dues Festival.

“Now more than ever, it’s important to have a live music platform like our Paid Dues festival, which showcases the best and brightest that independent Hip-Hop to offer,” said Guerilla Union’s Chang Weisberg. “If you want a pulse on what’s happening in Hip-Hop Paid Dues is a true barometer. Murs has done an amazing job bringing together new and emerging artists as well as the most established pioneers in the business.”

The Chef’s got more cooking for 2011 than just his much-anticipated fifth LP, Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang (due in March). A source close to Raekwon tells VIBE that the storytelling MC has plans for a second album before 2012 hits. The as-yet-untitled project, said to contain more “DJ-oriented” and “harmony-based” records—will feature production by the likes of Just Blaze and Kanye West, while keeping with the traditional Wu-Tang sound and aesthetic. Recorded while Rae simultaneously created the kung-fu heavy concept album Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang, the halfway complete opus is expected to drop in October.

After doing discovering Buckshot, bobbing my head to his steady flow and rhymes, and follwing @buckshotthebdi, I realized not only is he well respected as a lyricist, but he’s also well respected as the co-founder of Duck Down music. Duck Down is home of many amazing artists all us hip-hop heads are familiar with, such as; 9th Wonder, KRS-One, Marco Polo, Sean Price, B-Real, and of course Boot Camp Clik.

“The Common Knowledgy of the Entertainment Industry” is an 80 page book divided into three parts. The first part consists of the basics of the entertainment industry, 2nd consists of the framework, and the third part ties it all in with, “how it all works”.

If you’re a hip-hop head hoping to start your own independent label one day, this should be the perfect book to gain a refreshing perspective of how it all works, from the bottom to the top.

The fact that it also comes with a 13 track CD, and Q&A… you’re definitely getting more than your money’s worth! I won’t be passing that up.

“The Common Knowledgy of the Entertainment Industry” hits major retail shelves on January 25th, but is up for holiday pre-sale now. Only $18.98 each!!!

http://store.duckdown.com/index.php?fuseaction=item_cat.ecom_superitem_detail&item_cat_id=5637

xx
-@DameLush
MiNDWORK