Danny Brown
Daniel Dewan Sewell (born March 16, 1981), better known by his stage name Danny Brown, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and podcaster.
Born and raised in Detroit, Brown began rapping at a young age and was influenced by his father, a DJ who introduced him to hip-hop and house music. He began his music career in 2003, performing with local hip-hop groups while supporting himself by selling drugs. In 2007, Brown served eight months in jail after violating his probation for a drug-related case. After his release he continued his music career, self-releasing several mixtapes including Hot Soup (2008) and Hawaiian Snow (2010) with Tony Yayo. His debut studio album The Hybrid was released in 2010.
In 2011, Brown signed to Fool's Gold Records and achieved his first major breakthrough with the mixtape XXX, which received critical acclaim and significant attention from online music outlets, leading to him being named "Artist of the Year" by Spin and the Metro Times. The highly successful non-album single "Grown Up" followed in 2012. His second studio album Old (2013) received further critical acclaim and was commercially successful, reaching number 18 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and spawning the singles "Dip", "25 Bucks" and "Smokin & Drinkin".
In 2016, Brown signed with Warp Records and released the studio albums Atrocity Exhibition (2016) and UKnoWhatImSayin? (2019), to continued critical acclaim, although with reduced commercial sales. His collaborative album with JPEGMafia, Scaring the Hoes, and his fifth studio album Quaranta, were both released in 2023. Following a stint in rehab during which he became sober, Brown released his sixth studio album, the hyperpop-inspired Stardust in 2025.
Brown is known for his distinctive high-pitched vocal delivery, unconventional fashion sense and experimental approach to hip-hop. He was described by MTV in 2011 as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory" and by the Detroit Metro Times as "the most eccentric emcee ever born on Detroit soil".
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