This year, Danny Brown is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of his XXX album. The Detroit-raised rapper’s second studio LP came out in 2011 via Fool’s Gold Records.
In an alternative universe, Danny Brown’s XXX might have been released under 50 Cent’s label. Andrew Barber recently spoke to Brown for The Coda Collection, and the 40-year-old entertainer recalled nearly being signed to the G-Unit leader.
“50 was down with signing me, but now I’m already set into my look. So this is when I’m wearing the skinny jeans and thrift store clothes and s### like that,” Brown explained to Barber.
The 40-year-old Midwesterner continued, “So [50 Cent was] like, ‘No, you need to look non-approachable, you need to look mean, you need to wear big jeans and s###.’ And I wasn’t with that s###, so 50’s like f### that s### [laughs].”
Back in 2010, Danny Brown actually teamed up with G-Unit’s Tony Yayo for the Hawaiian Snow joint mixtape. That collaborative project included two features by Bay Area rapper Lil B The BasedGod.
XXX was the follow-up to Danny Brown’s 2010 debut album The Hybrid. His sophomore effort was met with widespread critical acclaim. Brown is now preparing to come back with a sequel to XXX titled 40.
“The f###### pandemic hit and next thing you know I’m in the house by myself, stuck, bored. I don’t have nothing to do. Let me just start writing. There’s nothing else to do,” said Danny Brown. “I started back writing, and s### was trash. I’m like, ‘I might be washed.’”
He added, “So, now you gotta think, you’re going through a pandemic, shows are canceled. I’m trying to make new s###, so I’m just going through a whole depressed, stressed-out moment. So I just wrote myself out the ditch. That’s the only thing I can really say. It was almost like back to the basics of the s###, and it felt like it was back to XXX time again, honestly.”