Danny Brown is weird. Atrocity exhibition is weird. There’s just no way to get around it, and it’s better to go into this album knowing that. While there are few who would dispute the strangeness of the Detroit-based MC, it’s up for debate whether Danny Brown’s outlandish vocal delivery and musical style is genius or ineptitude. Brown’s vocal delivery in particular divides opinion. His one of a kind intonation draws to mind the yipping of a dog, for better or for worse. This delivery if the first major hurdle when listening to this album- if you don’t like it, you’re going to want to pull your hair out before the first song is over. Odd as the delivery may be, you’ll never find Brown off-beat, and he is capable of maintaining a flow with the best of them.

If his vocal delivery doesn’t immediately turn you off, there’s a chance that the beats on Atrocity Exhibition will- you won’t find a traditional beat on this entire project. Drum beats are erratic, rarely following the traditional “boom-bap” pattern so common in rap. Melodies are often frenetic, pulsing with energy and urgency. Danny Brown opts for very unique instruments on the album as well, with frequent use of horns, string instruments, and some really extraordinary vocal loops. This energy keeps up for almost the entire album, and it honestly sounds as if it was written on a cocaine high (spoiler alert: it was). The beats here do nicely match the subject matter of the album, which is, you guessed it, drug use. Danny Brown’s lyrics, when paired with the energy of his instrumentals, paint a picture of a drug addict spiraling out of control. We are lucky enough to be taken along for the ride. 

Highlights

Really Doe

Really Doe is the lead single off of the album, and is monster of a possy cut. The song is essentially a lyrical sparring session between Danny Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt over an ominous sounding beat. Every MC on this track brings their A game, and there’s quotable lines galore here. Earl Sweatshirt, in particular, pens an exceptional verse. His voice practically drips with menace as he snarls “I’m at your house like/ Why you got your couch on my chucks?”

Lost

Featuring one of the weirdest vocal loops that I’ve heard in a long time, Lost is a really unique listen. The dipping background vocal dovetails with Danny Brown’s high energy delivery to create an effect of total absurdity. Brown brings his best lyrically on this song as well, with “Packing up the bags/ But a n*gga ain’t trippin” being one of my favorites.

Downward Spiral

Downward Spiral  is the lead single on the album, and it’s opening lines “I’m sweating like I’m in a rave/ Been in this room for three days/ Think I’m hearing voices/ Paranoid and think I’m seeing ghosts/ Oh shit” perfectly set the tone for what is to come. The beat on this song works perfectly to set a tone of despondency that mirrors the tone of the lyrics, and one can feel the panic in Danny Brown’s voice as he yelps “I gotta figure it out!”

Lowlights

Ain’t It Funny

Ain’t It Funny is what happens when Danny Brown gets too weird for me.This is a feat indeed, as I tend to like weird rap music. The beat on this song is dominated by a pulsating synthesizer that is reminiscent of the sound of factory production. A horn blares in the background as well, creating the feeling of total chaos. Brown’s lyrical performance is weird as always, but I just can’t get over how overbearing the beat is.

Conclusion

Atrocity Exhibition is an album that divides opinion. Those that can’t get over Danny Brown’s vocal delivery, or the absurdity of the beats on this project, will absolutely hate it. Those that can stomach the vocal delivery, or even enjoy it, will likely find many songs on here that they like. I personally tend to side more with those who like Brown’s unique style and vocal delivery, though there are still tracks on here that even I can’t stomach.

Score: 7/10

Earl Sweatshirt’s sophomore studio album, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside sounds pretty much exactly like you’d expect it to. This album is bleak, both lyrically and instrumentally, which matches my current mood rather well, considering this blog post is a day late. Sonically, this album sounds like it was made in a smoke filled, hazy basement of some kind of ramshackle house. Beats are often plodding, with dark and ominous basslines that add a sinister undercurrent to the tracks. The dark beats are complemented by Earl Sweatshirt’s vocals, which often lag ever so slightly behind the beat and carry an air of being too numb to care about the state of his life. This perceived lack of care is not to say that Sweatshirt somehow approaches this album lazily or without effort. Other than a few tracks, most of the songs on this project are lyrically intricate, and do a good job detailing the depressing mundanity of Earl’s life. Earl’s impressive lyricism makes it so that oftentimes even the most plodding of tracks on this project are worth a listen. At exactly 30 minutes, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside is a short listen with little variation in terms of tone or theme, but what it does, it does rather well.

Highlights

Grief- Perhaps the bleakest of the bleak songs on this album, Grief conjures its namesake emotion. This song’s beat is minimal to an extreme, the only elements are a sporadic hi-hat and a sort of low moaning synthesizer that seems impossible to define- it never really ends or begins anywhere. Lyrically, Earl acknowledges that he deserves the depressive state that has come over him (Good grief, I been reaping what I sow), but doesn’t seem to have any plans to change his behavior.

Huey- In contrast to Grief, Huey is probably the most happy sounding track on this album- though that’s not to say that it’s a happy song. It’s beat consists of an old-timey sounding organ that contrasts with Earl’s tired and monotone vocals to create the feeling that this song is an exploration of the banality of everyday life in an ironically positive way. Earl does bring his lyricism on this track with lines like “The wins like lotion, he get ‘em he gon’ rub ‘em in,” which, in true Earl Sweatshirt fashion, is quickly followed by the line “I spent the day drinking and missing my grandmother.”

DNA- DNA is one of the few songs on this album where Earl gets aggressive or even registers any emotion other than self indulgent acceptance of his depressed state. He adopts a sort of nihilistic attitude with lines like “And my pants better be creased on my corpse” and “Tell momma get a gun if I get too popular, I’m just being honest with her.” The beat here lends to the aggressive tone of the song, with a thumping bass progression that just sounds nasty.

Lowlights

Inside- Inside feels like it really didn’t need to be on this album. The production here is largely unremarkable, apart from sounding kinda sad. Lyrically, Earl doesn’t bring anything to keep the listeners attention either, and the result is a slow and unremarkable track that sounds like it was a demo track.

Off Top- Off Top does get credit for having a unique beat, but the beat is also what lets this track down. For once, there’s actually too much going on with a beat on this project. There’s a weird card shuffling effect and an oddly chopped vocal that make the beat all too chaotic. To top it off, I’m pretty sure Tyler the Creator ad-libs for Earl throughout this song, but never actually gets a verse.

Conclusion

I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside is an unapologetically genuine album. In Earl’s case, that genuineness just happens to come in the form of a really depressing album. Still, this project deserves note for being so true to itself. That being said, there is little in the way of variation either sonically or lyrically, and that hampers this albums overall potential. Earl’s lyricism and commitment to achieving a desired effect are still enough to make this album better than average.

Score: 6/10