10 Best Hip Hop Albums Of The Decade
3. Danny Brown - XXX
Danny Brown is nothing if not distinct. The Detroit rapper has a sound completely unlike anyone else in the game, and while much of this comes from his trademark high-pitched delivery, his willingness to swerve from complete lyrical hedonism into darker, more depressing subject matter, often within a single verse, is just as important.
XXX is a gut-wrenching album. Brown is carefree and reckless on tracks like “Radio Song” and “Party All The Time,” but cripplingly insecure on others. He is a man crippled by depression and addiction, and as the album’s closing track (“30”) comes to an end, Brown sounds like he’s falling apart, and doesn’t have a clue how to conquer the demons that rule his life.
This duality is what makes XXX so compelling. There are plenty of party tracks here, but each is tempered by another highlighting the bleak darkness inside Brown’s soul. His elastic vocals aren’t for everyone, and the more depressive tracks can be tough to listen to, but XXX is a towering work of introspective hip-hop. Danny’s ability to parse his inner turmoil into razor-sharp lyrics is second to none, and marks him as one of the most important rappers in the game.