Danny Brown's "XXX" Is A Classic

 Danny Brown's landmark album "XXX" celebrates its 10-year anniversary.  

"So after 10 yrs is it safe to say that #XXX is a classic?" Danny Brown asked his 464.2k followers on Twitter today. On the ten-year anniversary of his acclaimed second studio album, which arrived on the iconic A-Trak-led Fool's Gold indie record label on August 15, 2011, Danny Brown wants his flowers for XXX, and it's time to give them to him.

So after 10 yrs is it safe to say that #XXX is a classic?

— Danny Brown (@xdannyxbrownx) August 15, 2021

 XXX housed monstrous tracks that showcased Danny Brown's immaculate lyrical capabilities, channeled the vocal and topical absurdity that artists like Young Thug have heavily leaned into, and painted a brutally honest portrait of the then-30-year-old Detroit rapper. A decade later, the landscape of Hip-Hop has completely changed, and still, XXX sounds as fresh and intriguing as ever.  

Danny Brown's underground opus featured so many noteworthy tracks — "XXX," "Detroit187," and "I Will" to name a few — that it was hard to point to one song as the definitive cut of the album. As a result, on the ten-year anniversary of XXX, we revisit one of the album's sole tracks that was accompanied by a music video: "Monopoly."  

From dissing his contemporaries for putting out rushed and half-baked projects to once again proving that he's one of the most creative and vicious songwriters in Hip-Hop, "Monopoly" is the brief reminder that you need to go back and revisit Danny Brown's certified classic sophomore album XXX.  

Quotable Lyrics  

The Hybrid, smoking on papaya  

That give you niggas bronchitis, what you  

write is all vagina  

What I write is Wall of China, nigga, that's  

great  

Like eighths of Grape Apes gettin' stuffed  

in my suitcase  

Ready to hit the studio and shit all on  

your mixtape  

Nah, literally, shit all on your mixtape  

Wipe with the credits, leave stains on the  

jewel case