User:FuriousFreddy/Danny!
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| Danny! | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Born | August 18, 1983 | |
| Origin | Columbia, South Carolina | |
| Genre(s) | Hip-Hop | |
| Occupation(s) | Rapper, Record producer | |
| Years active | 2004–present | |
| Label(s) | 1911 Music/Badenov Records (2004 - 2006) Definitive Jux (2007 - ) |
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| Website | DannySwain.com | |
Danny!, also known as D. Swain (born Daniel Keith Swain, August 18, 1983 in Killeen, Texas), is an American hip-hop performer and record producer from Columbia, South Carolina, and a current student at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Garnering praise -- and fielding intense criticism -- for being an atypical rapper relying heavily on sampled tracks (á la Kanye West), Danny released three self-produced albums within a twelve-month span: The College Kicked-Out (2004), its follow-up, F.O.O.D. (2005), and Charm (2006). Charm went on to become the most critically-acclaimed of the three and was listed in seven different categories on the 49th Annual Grammy Award short list[1], helping Danny to become South Carolina's most heralded hip-hop artist to date.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early Career (1999 - 2001)
Born to military parents in the early eighties (his mother and father met while both were stationed in the U.S. Army), Danny developed a deep love for music during his childhood. In his early teens he became transfixed by hip-hop culture, influenced by seminal group A Tribe Called Quest and other (primarily New York-based) rap collectives such as De La Soul and Gang Starr. Danny began producing at an early age, but by age 16 he had developed a style all his own courtesy of the Yamaha keyboards and sequencers his mother would buy for him. Following his initial reluctance to rap, Danny began to pen his own lyrics and eventually recorded makeshift songs first on his boombox (via cassette tape), then later on his personal computer. Early Danny songs mimicked rapper Eminem's multi-syllabic shock lyrics; Danny has openly admitted to copying Eminem's flow early on.
[edit] College Life (2001 - 2003)
In 2001 Danny matriculated at Claflin University, a liberal arts college 50 miles from his hometown of Columbia, and enrolled in the college's fledgling "Call Me Mister" program. While at Claflin Danny began to stray from the keyboard-crafted beats he was known for and started experimenting with sampling. Influenced greatly by fellow rapper and producer RZA, Danny used a sampler to loop up soul records and started creating songs that he felt had more structure to them. The success of Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele and Jay-Z's The Blueprint further validated the relevance of such a style of production for Danny and inspired him to work on an album of his own; Danny has stated that hearing Freeway's "What We Do (Is Wrong)" for the very first time was the definitive point in which he decided to incorporate samples into his production.
A campus-wide grade-changing scandal forced Danny to leave Claflin University in November 2003, just as he was putting the finishing touches on his debut album, then titled The Danny Swain LP. Though no proof or evidence was ever presented, Danny was accused of orchestrating a scheme in which 300+ students' grades had been altered in exchange for money, and was expelled from the university.
[edit] Post-Claflin (2003 - 2006)
Nevertheless Danny made light of the situation and in late 2004, after spending nearly a year rebuilding his reputation and networking with local rappers back home, he released his debut album, now renamed The College Kicked-Out. Much to Danny's chagrin, the CD's otherwise feel-good vibe would become overshadowed not by Danny's dubious past, but by those who panned the effort as a carbon-copy of Kanye West's own debut album, The College Dropout. Critics felt Danny's style of production, with the utilization of pitch-altered vocal samples, was far too similar to West's. MC's in the Columbia area ridiculed Danny and refused to continue to work with him, which Danny would allude to in much of his later work.
After being accepted to the Savannah College of Art & Design Danny relocated to Savannah, Georgia; it was here that he began to work on his sophomore project, F.O.O.D.. His second album, however, was met with puzzled looks as the Daisy Age-influenced MC was rapping in an angry, is-this-what-you-want flow. Gems on the F.O.O.D. were overlooked by the out-of-place, retaliatory tracks. Nevertheless, Danny began to develop a moderate following -- albeit primarily on the internet -- and fans began to know Danny for his up-tempo beats, his wry, sarcastic humor, his usage of satire and, at times, self-deprecating humor.
[edit] Breakthrough (2006 - 2007)
In March 2006 Danny officially released his third and allegedly final LP Charm, a concept album in which he credits The Miracles' City of Angels as his inspiration. The album narrates the story of a musician who wants to achieve success through music and escape the day-to-day routine in his hometown. The protagonist, which is believed to be Danny himself, dreams that he actually becomes famous and wealthy, only to realize towards the album's closing that perhaps fame wasn't meant for everybody, particularly him. The album ends with the musician awakening from his dream, only to be approached by a label executive shortly afterwards. Lauded by a variety of music aficionados and online magazines, Charm went on to become Danny's biggest success to date and, ironically, help make the entire premise of the album come true in real life.
In October 2006 the first of two nomination ballots for the Grammy Awards of 2007 was uploaded onto the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) website and selected tracks from Charm were listed in various categories and fields, making Danny the first hip-hop artist from South Carolina to achieve such a feat. None of his selected songs, however, made it from the short list to the second nomination ballot, which is comprised of artists and songwriters who received the top five votes in a category (and are from then on classified as "Grammy nominees"). Nonetheless, Danny chronicled his album's recognition by the Recording Academy on his Myspace page in a four-part weblog series.
Shortly before the Grammy announcement was made, Danny quietly released an instrumental album, Dream, Interrupted, abroad and is said to have plans to release a sequel entitled Dream, Fulfilled.
[edit] Present (2007 - )
Despite his success, however, Danny had long insisted that Charm will indeed be his final album as a solo artist. Citing such reasons as a desire to finish his education, an oversaturated market and a fickle audience, he had mentioned in various interviews that he had no plans to ever release another LP commercially. However, in January of 2007 Danny finally received his big break when he was declared the winner of the Best Music On Campus contest sponsored by MTVu and Definitive Jux Records. The record deal that resulted from the win forced him out of "retirement" to record an EP for the Def Jux label with fellow Jukie Mr. Lif.
To date, the recently-signed Danny remains reclusive, making sporadic appearances while promoting Charm and refusing to work with the now-willing artists who once snubbed him.
[edit] Composition
[edit] Beats
Danny's style of production encompasses the feel of the jazz, soul and funk records that he is influenced by. Employing a technique known as "chopping up" loops, Danny has experimented with borrowing from obscure records from the sixties to the early nineties. The influence that DJ Premier has had on him is reflected in several of his tracks, as his choruses are sometimes scratched up in the same manner that DJ Premier is known for with his non-Gang Starr collaborations.
Recently, Danny has been experimenting with sampling songs from out-of-print foreign film soundtracks, specifically from France, Italy and Japan, as well as sound library records from England.
[edit] Rhymes
Never relying on a macho image to gain favoritism, Danny's lyrics -- many of which are self-referential -- focus on social issues such as premarital sex, alcoholism and racism. An avid storyteller, Danny's rhymes are also known for their graphic albeit poignant portrayal of things that are usually based on actual events in his life. For example, "Where Were You" from Charm is a story about an ex-lover involved in an extramarital affair with someone else's wife; when the woman mysteriously ceases contact with the scorned narrator he jumps to the conclusion that she has returned to her abusive husband despite promises of running away with him. The song's conclusion, however, reveals that the wife had actually been killed in a gruesome automobile accident by her jealous husband, who used his eighteen wheeler to run her off the road en route to escape to her lover.
Often Danny will ridicule naysayers in his lyrics and belittle others who he feels betrayed him in the beginning of his career, which can be heard in much of his later work.
[edit] Style
Though Danny would later achieve success as a producer and rapper in his own right, much of his career was plaqued with accusations from critics who claimed his style mirrored that of the already-established Kanye West. Most people refer not only to the similar production techniques, but to cadences and flow as well. On the other hand, others have argued that Danny and Kanye are similar only in that they both chose not to go the gangsta rap route, unlike most of their contemporaries, but that the comparisons end there and the two sound nothing alike. To his credit, Danny has publicly mentioned that the Roc-A-Fella superstar is as much of an influence as any other hip-hop producer/rapper (RZA, Timbaland, Q-Tip, et. al) that he grew up listening to and has admiration for.
Danny incorporates an alternate style at times, but typically just sticks with the conversational, stream-of-consciousness flow he is known for.
[edit] Trivia
- Danny is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and named the imprint under which he releases his own albums, "1911 Music," after the year the fraternity was founded.
- F.O.O.D. stands for "Finding Out Our Destination" and was originally a collaborative effort between Danny and one-time rap partner Scuzzy.
- A huge Meagan Good fan, Danny has expressed having a crush on the young actress and has deadpanned both on wax and in interviews that he fervently pursued a record deal for the sole purpose of getting her attention.
- Danny regards DJ Premier as not only his personal favorite, but the best hip-hop producer of all time.
- Though they weren't enrolled during the same period, R&B recording artist India.Arie is also a former student of the Savannah College of Art & Design.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album cover | Album information |
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The College Kicked-Out
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F.O.O.D.
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Charm
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Dream, Interrupted
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[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- DannySwain.com
- Danny! on MySpace
- Danny! on AllMusic
- Danny! on AOL Music
- Danny! on ARTISTdirect
- Danny! on MTV.com
- Danny! on Okayplayer
- Danny! on VH1.com
