Music
Danny Brown
born 1981 · rapper, songwriter, podcaster
Detroit-born rapper whose off-kilter voice and blunt stories of the city made him one of hip-hop's most acclaimed left-field artists.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 45- Birth name
- Daniel Dewan Sewell
- Detroit years
- 1981–present
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Brown was born in Detroit to teenage parents; his father, a DJ, introduced him to hip-hop and house music. He grew up in the city, including the Dexter-Linwood area, went to a Filipino church with his grandmother and later moved to Hamtramck. He started out in the Detroit group Rese'vor Dogs, whose single "Yess" got local radio play in 2003. After eight months in jail in 2007 for a probation violation, he rebuilt his career with Detroit producer Nick Speed and the mixtape series Detroit State of Mind, then released his first album, The Hybrid, in 2010. The 2011 mixtape XXX made him a critics' favorite, earning Artist of the Year honors from Spin and the Detroit Metro Times. Albums such as Old (2013) and Atrocity Exhibition (2016) keep Detroit at the center of his lyrics, and in 2014 he joined Eminem, Big Sean and others on "Detroit vs. Everybody."
Highlights
- Mixtape XXX (2011) named Artist of the Year by Spin and the Metro Times
- Old (2013) reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200
- Featured on "Detroit vs. Everybody" (2014) with Eminem and Big Sean
- Released the sober, hyperpop-tinged album Stardust in 2025