Danny!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 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) | none | |
| 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. 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. Charm, the first of his LPs to be released commercially, was the most critically-acclaimed of the three and was listed in seven different categories on the 49th Annual Grammy Award first-tier nomination ballot[1].
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[edit] Biography
Born to military parents in the early eighties (his mother and father met in the U.S. Army, though his father was later discharged), Danny spent much of his childhood traveling the globe and, consequently, picking up new interests along the way. He became sort of a recluse -- it was hard to keep long-lasting friendships due to constant changes in the locale -- and turned to his video games and drawing pads to keep him entertained. In 1990 his mother bought Danny his first keyboard, sparking the creative energy inside the young musician-to-be. By the age of 13 he had been through several different Yamaha-brand keyboards and samplers but, much like Danny's many talents at the time, music was merely a hobby and Danny wouldn't seriously pursue producing until later in his life.
Danny developed a love for the hip-hop culture in his early teens; influenced by seminal group A Tribe Called Quest and other (primarily New York-based) rap collectives such as De La Soul and Gang Starr, he started to pen his own lyrics and continued to dabble in music production during his high school years. Upon graduation from Richland Northeast High School in 2001 Danny matriculated at Claflin University, a liberal arts college 50 miles from his hometown. He enrolled in the college's fledgling "Call Me Mister" program and quietly made a name for himself locally as the resident go-to producer.
Plans to release an album of his own surfaced in early 2002 after being inspired by Jay-Z's The Blueprint; however, a grade-changing controversy stopped those plans to a screeching halt. Danny was accused of orchestrating a campus-wide scandal in which 300+ students' grades had been altered in exchange for money. Following an under-wraps investigation he was expelled from the university in 2003; lack of evidence being present during questioning fueled rumors of unfair tactics and scapegoating.
Nevertheless, Danny made light of the situation and in late 2004, after spending nearly a year rebuilding his reputation and networking with local rappers, he released his debut album The College Kicked-Out. An obvious nod to fellow producer/MC Kanye West (as well as a reference to the Claflin controversy), the CD's otherwise feel-good vibe got overshadowed not by Danny's dubious past, but by critics who panned the effort as a carbon-copy of West's own debut album, The College Dropout. MC's in the Columbia area ridiculed Danny and refused to continue to work with him, much to Danny's chagrin. After being accepted to the prestigious Savannah College of Art & Design Danny relocated to Savannah, Georgia; it was here that he began to work on his sophomore project, tentatively titled Stakes Is High...Again (later changed to 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.
In late 2005 Danny shushed naysayers and one-upped local MC's with the completion of his 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 dreary 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 awaking 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.
Danny announced his signing to a distribution deal in January of 2006, permitting his Charm album to gain worldwide exposure via retail stores (Best Buy, Sam Goody, Tower Records), and digital download sites (eMusic, iTunes, Napster). Released in March 2006, the album has since gained critical acclaim from sites such as All Music Guide and Okayplayer, a hip-hop based message board that Danny is reported to post on occasionally. 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.
Despite his recent success, Danny has been adamant 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 has mentioned in various interviews that he has no plans to release another LP commercially. Though Charm eventually garnered the attention of several record labels, nothing ever officially materialized.
To date, the yet-unsigned Danny remains reclusive, making sporadic appearances while promoting Charm and refusing to work with the now-willing artists who once snubbed him.
[edit] Career
[edit] The Early Years (1999 - 2001)
Before Danny was known as Danny!, he went by the moniker D. Swain, an alter ego of sorts that he used to display his witty, sarcastic and cynical side. He has credited rapper Eminem and his usage of the alter ego "Slim Shady" as the reason for the on-wax split personality, and even admits to mimicking Eminem's multi-syllabic rapping style while trying to develop his own (making Eminem the only rapper Danny has openly admitting to "biting"). Danny recorded makeshift songs on his personal computer and shared them with only those close to him; as word got around, however, Danny began to allow others to listen to his music.
[edit] College Life (2001 - 2003)
Towards the end of 2001 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 making songs with more structure to them. The release of Jay-Z's The Blueprint further validated the popularity of such a style of production for Danny and inspired him to work on an album of his own.
[edit] Post-Claflin (2003 - 2006)
Just as his star was beginning to rise at Claflin University, Danny was expelled and forced to return home. After briefly halting his musical endeavors he continued to pen lyrics and offer production work for local rappers and friends. People began to know Danny for his up-tempo beats and his wry, sarcastic humor and usage of satire and, at times, self-deprecating humor. Danny released three albums in a twelve-month period and eventually developed a moderate following, validated by spotlight features on Okayplayer, VH1.com and AOL Music.
[edit] Present (2006 - )
Appearances on the 49th Annual Grammy Awards nomination ballot helped Danny become regarded as South Carolina's most heralded hip-hop artist to date. Shortly before the announcement was made, Danny quietly released an instrumental album, Dream, Interrupted, abroad and is said to have plans to release a second one with friend and colleague G. Test.
[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. Early in his production career, however, Danny experimented heavily with sped-up soul samples, eliciting derogatory though justified comparisons to the Diplomats' former in-house production team the Heatmakerz and former Roc-A-Fella in-house beatmaker Just Blaze.
[edit] Rhymes
Never relying on a macho image to gain favoritism, Danny's lyrics 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 husband, who used his eighteen wheeler to run her off the road en route to escape to her lover.
Oftentimes 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.
[edit] Trivia
- With the exception of two songs, Charm was recorded in an apartment closet.
- During his days as a radio personality in Danny's hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, The Wendy Williams Experience co-host Charlamagne tha God publicly ridiculed Danny on 103.9 WHXT FM, bringing to light Danny's expulsion from Claflin University and accusing him of being a "Kanye West rip-off".
- "Where Were You" from Charm is based off of actual events.
- 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.
- 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
