The guest
Danny Brown: Detroit rapper known for experimental hip-hop albums (XXX, Old, Atrocity Exhibition) who now co-hosts a podcast produced out of Tom Segura and Christina P's Your Mom's House studio.
What this episode covers
Danny Brown joins Joe Rogan for a loose, funny conversation about the tension between making experimental underground music versus chasing commercial hits. He recounts how listening to podcasts (Rogan, Joey Diaz) shifted his focus from music, how Tom Segura got him into podcasting, and his frustration with how his finished album Quaranta sat unreleased for years. They cover gambling addiction and Danny's reckless casino stories, his short stint in Muay Thai, drug experiences, and the brutal economics of record deals. A recurring thread is Joe repeatedly encouraging Danny to try stand-up comedy that very night, arguing his punchline-based rap writing was essentially stand-up all along.
Recommended on this episode
MediaRecommended
Illmatic
Nas
“the greatest I've ever heard in my life”
“Illmatic was the greatest I've ever heard in my life so to me it's like Illmatic”— Danny Brown
The guest's own work
MediaBy the guest
XXX
Danny Brown
“the album is called 30. this is an album about a 30 year old rapper just now starting to get a break and how he feels”— Danny Brown
MediaBy the guest
Old
Danny Brown
“my next album after that was old it's called and but that chart at billboard but it was a lot of money”— Danny Brown
MediaBy the guest
Atrocity Exhibition
Danny Brown
“have you that's great when you when you get a spare time to yourself Joe yeah atrocity exhibition it's uh can I play right now”— Danny Brown
MediaBy the guest
Quaranta
Danny Brown
“this is going to happen it's look it's called cuaranta what does that mean 40”— Danny Brown
MediaBy the guest
uknowhatimsaying¿
Danny Brown
“my last album um which was called you know what I'm saying which is actually um from time of Christina”— Danny Brown
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
MediaReferenced
NBA 2K
2K
“NBA 2K is like the [ __ ] version of the metaverse and we just don't know that yet”— Danny Brown
MediaReferenced
PowerWash Simulator
“these are my homies this is my favorite game stuff bro you made this up you already know”— Danny Brown
MediaReferenced
Farming Simulator
“Farming Simulator firing simulator putting out fires so what is it farming like gets in the truck”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
RuneScape
Jagex
“these [ __ ] been finessing and been making so much money off RuneScape for years”— Danny Brown
MediaReferenced
World of Warcraft
Blizzard
“it looks like a little bit of like uh World of Warcraft kind of um those games those games are insanely addictive”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
StarCraft
Blizzard
“no man Animal Crossing I know he played World of Warcraft too is it animal crossing he definitely played Starcraft”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Animal Crossing
Nintendo
“no man Animal Crossing I know he played World of Warcraft too is it animal crossing”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Quake
id Software
“I used to I used to play this game called Quake it's like uh you seem like a type of [ __ ] one-on-one video game”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo
“Mario's like a home invasion rapist he's a plumber why is he kicking the castle Doors Down stealing princesses”— Danny Brown
MediaReferenced
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Activision
“yeah Modern Warfare two yeah so Modern Warfare is basically like you're at War”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Fortnite
Epic Games
“there's another one that like for fortnite similar style of game but you're doing away different stuff”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
League of Legends
Riot Games
“League of Legends no [ __ ] I don't remember oh yeah but it was just he was so sad he was so addicted”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Batman: Arkham VR
Rocksteady
“for three days I played bro for three days oh man I beat it in three days but I thought I was Batman”— Danny Brown
MediaReferenced
Iron Man VR
“they just put out Iron Man you can be Iron Man it's pretty cool oh wow it got too deep”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
UFC
EA Sports
“I bought UFC before the good ufcs this is a uh whatever UFC video game so I'm playing that”— Danny Brown
MediaReferenced
Diff'rent Strokes
“don't you remember Gary Coleman [ __ ] Gary from Different Strokes all right he started working as a security guard”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
21 Jump Street
“the murder like oh so it's a puzzle it's like 21 Jump Street yeah hey now yeah”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
The Matrix
“but we're going to be plugged in like I think it's Matrix three years it might be about three years”— Joe Rogan
MediaReferenced
Stop Breathing
Playboi Carti
“play playboi carti stop breathing bro you don't get it I don't get it help me out”— Danny Brown
ProductReferenced
Akai MPC
Akai
“I couldn't go on YouTube and find an instruction manual to how to use the MPC”— Danny Brown
ProductReferenced
Rolex
Rolex
“they make fake Rolexes that are exactly the same as a Rolex but you know what I'm saying like they do that”— Danny Brown
ProductReferenced
Roots of Fight
Roots of Fight
“this is roots of fight when you got muscles this is an old uh smoking Joe Frazier”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
David August suits
David August
“We got David August to design suits for us so they were custom-made suits you want to see this shirt”— Joe Rogan
Big reveals from this episode
- Nas wanted to sign Danny to his label, but Danny signed with Warp instead purely because it was more money, a choice he sometimes regrets.
- Danny's album Quaranta was finished roughly three years earlier; the label held it, he kept writing new songs thinking they were unhappy, then realized the label's chosen tracklist was right.
- Gambling story: he put $10k on a single roulette number, lost, stormed off leaving his wallet and phone on the table, returned from the airport to find them untouched, and ended up down $5k.
- Q-Tip vouched for Danny to A-Trac to get him signed to Fool's Gold Records; he signed for just $5,000 and blew the entire bonus at South by Southwest.
- Danny realizes his punchline-driven rap writing (four punchlines per 16-bar verse) was essentially stand-up comedy the whole time.
- He put his girlfriend in jiu-jitsu for safety while he toured; she got so good she taught the kids' class, and the power shift contributed to their breakup.
- A Muay Thai instructor called him out for wearing shiny gold designer shorts instead of focusing on training, and he stopped going to that gym.
Worth remembering
- Danny Brown is 40 years old.
- Jamie learned audio engineering in school before YouTube tutorials existed for gear like the MPC.
- His 2019 album was made with Q-Tip; A Tribe Called Quest was his dad's favorite rap group.
- His album XXX, conceived around being a 30-year-old rapper finally breaking through, earned major critical acclaim.
- Jonah Hill directed the music video for 'Ain't It Funny' from Atrocity Exhibition.
- Danny calls Illmatic the greatest album he's ever heard and Nas the best lyricist ever.
- Warp gave Danny nearly a quarter-million-dollar budget to make an album.
- Danny argues NBA 2K is effectively an early version of the metaverse.
- His first time doing cocaine was at Coachella, given to him by his girlfriend's girlfriend.
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