“uknowhatimsayin¿” by Danny Brown

By Joe Juliette

Danny Brown’s 2016 album “Atrocity Exhibition” quickly evolved into an underground cult classic. This compounded the pressure on Brown to deliver another game-changing album.

 Brown’s 2019 album “uknowhatimsayin¿” plays more as an ode to underground rap than an album attempting to break ground. This does not mean Brown lacks the flare that has put him at the forefront of the rap scene. In fact, he shows growth into fresher sounds on tracks such as “Best Life,” produced by Q-Tip.

As opposed to his previous albums, with their consistently grimy beats, Brown applies his tight and elusive flows to production that jumps across generations of the underground. This leads him on a journey through beats that showcase the styles of the underground scene from the 1990s, the 2010s, and the future. The beats representing these generations are delivered by Q-Tip, Paul White, and JPEGMAFIA, respectively. 

The album is filled to the brim with punchline after punchline that will make your gut hurt from laughing. It also deals with deeper issues, such as mental health. Brown does this most effectively on “Change Up,” where he spits bars with vivid duality that reflect his inner conflicts in life and the rap game.

Brown effortlessly delivers flawless bars across all of these beats, showing off his technical skills that are at the top of the game more than ten years into his career.