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Danny!, also known as D. Swain (born Daniel Keith Swain, August 18, 1983 in Killeen, Texas), is an American hip-hop performer and record producer from Columbia, South Carolina, a current student at the Savannah College of Art & Design and, most recently, a recording artist for Definitive Jux Records. Garnering praise -- and fielding minor criticism -- for being an atypical rapper relying heavily on sampled tracks, Danny released four self-produced studio albums, two instrumental albums and even a greatest hits compilation prior to his signing with Def Jux. Danny is most notable for his critically-acclaimed 2006 album Charm, which is widely considered his best work to date. Charm would eventually go on to be listed in seven different categories on the 49th Annual Grammy Award short list, helping Danny to become South Carolina's most heralded hip-hop artist to date.

Biography

Early Career (1999 - 2001)

Danny was born in the early eighties to military parents who were both stationed in the U.S. Army at the time. During his childhood he developed a deep love for music; in his early teens he became transfixed by hip-hop culture, influenced by seminal group A Tribe Called Quest and other (primarily New York-based) rap collectives such as De La Soul and Gang Starr. Danny began producing at an early age, but by age 16 he had developed a style all his own courtesy of the keyboards and sequencers his mother would buy for him. Following his initial reluctance to rap, Danny began to pen his own lyrics and eventually recorded makeshift songs first on his boombox (via cassette tape), then later on his personal computer. Early Danny songs mimicked rapper Eminem's multi-syllabic shock lyrics; Danny has openly admitted to copying Eminem's flow early on.

College Life (2001 - 2003)

In 2001 Danny matriculated at Claflin University, a liberal arts college 50 miles from his hometown of Columbia, and enrolled in the college's fledgling "Call Me Mister" program. While at Claflin Danny began to stray from the keyboard-crafted beats he was known for and started experimenting with sampling. Influenced greatly by fellow rapper and producer RZA, Danny used a sampler to loop up soul records and started creating songs that he felt had more structure to them. The success of Ghostface Killah's Supreme Clientele and Jay-Z's The Blueprint further validated the relevance of such a style of production for Danny and inspired him to work on an album of his own; Danny has stated that hearing a demo version of Freeway's "What We Do (Is Wrong)" for the very first time was the definitive point in which he decided to incorporate samples into his production.

A campus-wide grade-changing scandal forced Danny to leave Claflin University in November 2003, just as he was putting the finishing touches on his debut album, then titled The Danny Swain LP. Though no proof or evidence was ever presented, Danny was accused of orchestrating a scheme in which 300+ students' grades had been altered in exchange for money, and was expelled from the university.

Post-Claflin (2003 - 2006)

After spending nearly a year rebuilding his reputation and networking with local rappers back home, Danny released his debut album, now renamed The College Kicked-Out, in late 2004. Much to his chagrin, the CD's otherwise feel-good vibe would become overshadowed not by Danny's dubious past, but by those who panned the effort as a carbon-copy of Kanye West's own debut album, The College Dropout. Critics felt Danny's style of production at the time, which heavily utilized pitch-altered vocal samples, was far too similar to West's. MC's in the Columbia area ridiculed Danny and refused to continue to work with him, which Danny would allude to in much of his later work.

Danny was later accepted to the Savannah College of Art & Design and relocated to Savannah, Georgia accordingly; it was here that he began to work on his second project, F.O.O.D. Visibly bothered by the reception to his debut album, the Daisy Age-influenced MC spent much of F.O.O.D. verbally attacking his detractors; otherwise decent songs on the LP were overlooked by the out-of-place, retaliatory tracks. Nevertheless, Danny began to develop a moderate following -- albeit primarily on the internet -- and fans began to know him for his rich production, usage of satire and, at times, humor that ranged from quirky to self-deprecating.

Breakthrough (2006 - 2007)

In March 2006 Danny officially released his third and allegedly final LP Charm, a concept album in which he has credited The Miracles' City of Angels as his inspiration. The album was notable for featuring an underlying theme of escapism, narrating the story of a musician who wants to achieve success through music and be reprieved of the day-to-day routine in his hometown. The protagonist, which is believed to be Danny himself, dreams that he actually becomes famous and wealthy, only to realize towards the album's closing that perhaps fame wasn't meant for everybody, particularly him. The album ends with the musician awakening from his dream, only to be approached by a label executive shortly afterwards. Lauded by a variety of music aficionados and online magazines, Charm went on to become Danny's biggest success to date and, ironically, help make the entire premise of the album come true in real life.

The first of two nomination ballots for the Grammy Awards of 2007 was uploaded onto the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) website in October 2006 and selected tracks from Charm were listed in various categories and fields, making Danny the first hip-hop artist from South Carolina to achieve such a feat. None of his selected songs, however, made it from the short list to the second nomination ballot, which is comprised of artists and songwriters who receive the top five votes in a category (and are from then on classified as "Grammy nominees"). Nonetheless, Danny chronicled his album's recognition by the Recording Academy on his Myspace page in a four-part blog series.

Shortly before the Grammy announcement was made, Danny quietly released an instrumental album, Dream, Interrupted, abroad. A sequel, Dream, Fulfilled, was also released overseas in April of the following year. Both albums, which Danny has jokingly referred to as "sensationalized beat tapes", are extremely rare; only a small number of copies exist stateside and are thus highly sought after in the US.

Present (2007 - )

Despite his success, Danny had long insisted that Charm will indeed be his final album as a solo artist. Citing such reasons as a desire to finish his education, an oversaturated market and a fickle audience, he had mentioned in various interviews that he had no plans to ever release another LP commercially. However, in January of 2007 Danny finally received his big break when he was declared the winner of the Best Music On Campus contest sponsored by MTVu and Definitive Jux Records. The record deal that resulted from the win forced him out of "retirement" to record an EP for the Def Jux label and release a 12" single -- to be accompanied by a music video slated for an exclusive premiere on MTVu -- with fellow Jukie Mr. Lif.

In an interesting twist, however, the unpredictable Danny announced plans of a self-released EP, Danny Is Dead, to serve as a prequel for his as-yet-untitled Definitive Jux debut EP. Initially, news of the project was met with confusion; though fans were undoubtedly eager for another studio album from Danny, most people erroneously believed that the EP was in lieu of some sort of defection from Definitive Jux. Danny quickly refuted the rumor; reaffirming his addition to Def Jux's roster, he revealed his decision to release an independent project had stemmed solely from overwhelming pressure from fans for new material. Since contract negotiations with Def Jux had yet to be finalized at the time, Danny was not yet legally bound by the label and was therefore free to give fans one final album as an unsigned artist. As such, Danny Is Dead was released in July 2007 via his own Badenov Records/1911 Music vanity label to positive reviews. Anticipation was further fueled when its first single, "Check It Out", was featured exclusively both on URB Magazine's website as part of their year-long "Next 1000" campaign, and in Pitchfork Media's "Forkcast".

Danny recently caved in to frequent requests from fans regarding the re-release of his albums prior to Charm and pressed up a small number of copies of his first two titles, The College Kicked-Out and F.O.O.D., for resale through CD Baby. He also revealed plans to offer his once-scarce catalogue, including Dream, Fulfilled and its predecessor, for sale through digital outlets such as iTunes, Napster and eMusic. Meanwhile, a "best of" compilation titled 21st Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Danny! was released not even a month after Danny Is Dead appeared in stores. The tracks selected for the greatest hits disc were selected by fans via a private e-mail sent to recipients on Danny's mailing list.

To date, the recently-signed Danny remains reclusive, making sporadic appearances while promoting Danny Is Dead and continuing to receive features in various hip hop-related publications and websites as an artist on the rise.

Composition

Beats

Danny's style of production encompasses the feel of the jazz, soul and funk records that he is influenced by. Employing a technique known as "chopping up" loops, Danny has experimented with borrowing from obscure records from the sixties to the early nineties. The influence that DJ Premier has had on him is reflected in several of his tracks, as his choruses are sometimes scratched up in the same manner that DJ Premier is known for with his non-Gang Starr collaborations. "The Lesson" from F.O.O.D. is one of the first known usages of this method.

Over the course of the past three years Danny's production style has evolved from sped-up, "chopped" soul samples typical of most of his contemporaries to more ambient, jazz-infused offerings that seem to be a hybrid of drum & bass and electronica. Recently, he has been experimenting with sampling songs from out-of-print foreign film soundtracks, specifically from France, Italy and Japan, as well as sound library records from England.

Rhymes

Danny's lyrics -- many of which are self-referential -- primarily focus on social issues such as premarital sex, alcoholism and racism. An avid storyteller, Danny's rhymes are also known for their graphic albeit poignant portrayal of things that are usually based on actual events in his life. For example, "Where Were You" from Charm is a story about an ex-lover involved in an extramarital affair with someone else's wife; when the woman mysteriously ceases contact with the scorned narrator he jumps to the conclusion that she has returned to her abusive husband despite promises of running away with him. The song's conclusion, however, reveals that the wife had actually been killed in a gruesome automobile accident by her jealous husband, who used his eighteen wheeler to run her off the road en route to escape to her lover.

Other songs also explore a variety of topics not typically found in contemporary hip-hop. "Cafe Surreal", one of Charm 's stand-out tracks, compares a haven for creative, free-minded artists to a coffeehouse that exists only in one's imagination. Later, in Danny Is Dead's "Rhyme Writer Crime Fighter", Danny humorously depicts himself as a self-appointed vigilante who brings justice to criminals only when he's not making music (lack of superpowers notwithstanding).

Often Danny will ridicule naysayers in his lyrics and belittle others who he feels betrayed him in the beginning of his career, which can be heard in much of his later work.

Style

Though Danny would later achieve major success as a producer and rapper in his own right, much of his early career was plagued with accusations from critics who claimed his style mirrored that of the already-established Kanye West. Most people referred not only to the similar production techniques at the time of Danny's initial emergence, but to cadences and flow as well. On the other hand, others have argued that Danny and Kanye are similar only in that they both chose not to go the gangsta rap route, unlike most of their contemporaries, but that the comparisons end there and the two sound absolutely nothing alike. Some have later admitted to writing Danny off as a Kanye "wanna-be" without ever actually hearing any of his material, solely basing their criticism on the title of Danny's debut album rather than the music. To his credit, Danny has publicly mentioned that the Roc-A-Fella superstar is as much of an influence as any other hip-hop producer/rapper (RZA, Timbaland, Q-Tip, et. al) that he grew up listening to and has admiration for.

Recently Danny has been compared, in a positive light, to MC's once associated with the Native Tongues camp. Seemingly more receptive to these statements than comparisons to West, the producer/rapper has proclaimed himself "A Tribe Called Quest on acid" on Charm 's "The Last Laugh". Interestingly, every album that Danny has released (excluding The College Kicked-Out) includes at least one song with some sort of musical homage paid to A Tribe Called Quest. During the last lines on Charm's "Can't Wait", for example, the original beat drops for one bar and is replaced with the instrumental for Tribe's "Award Tour".

Danny incorporates an alternate style at times, but typically just sticks with the conversational, stream-of-consciousness flow he is most known for.

Discography

Albums

The College Kicked-Out

• Released: November 2, 2004
• Chart positions: n/a
• U.S. Sales: n/a
• Last RIAA certification: n/a
• Singles: "I'm Movin' Out", "My Baby", "Second Time Around"

F.O.O.D.

• Released: May 17, 2005
• Chart positions: n/a
• U.S. Sales: n/a
• Last RIAA certification: n/a
• Singles: "I Only Wanna Be With You", "V.I.P.", "My Whole World", "Fullaschidt"

Charm

• Released: March 14, 2006
• Chart positions: n/a
• U.S. Sales: n/a
• Last RIAA certification: n/a
• Singles: "Charm", "Strange Fruit", "Can't Wait", "Cafe Surreal"

Dream, Interrupted

• Released: August 14, 2006
• Chart positions: n/a
• U.S. Sales: n/a
• Last RIAA certification: n/a
• Singles: n/a

Dream, Fulfilled

• Released: April 23, 2007
• Chart positions: n/a
• U.S. Sales: n/a
• Last RIAA certification: n/a
• Singles: n/a

Danny Is Dead

• Released: July 17, 2007
• Chart positions: n/a
• U.S. Sales: n/a
• Last RIAA certification: n/a
• Singles: "Check It Out", "Fly, Pt. 2", "The World Is Yours"

21st Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Danny!

• Released: August 7, 2007
• Chart positions: n/a
• U.S. Sales: n/a
• Last RIAA certification: n/a
• Singles: n/a

References

1. Roper, Randy (2006-10-25). "Danny! is Baaallliiinnn'". Writer's Block Media. Retrieved 2006-10-25. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. Welte, Jim (2007-01-26). "Danny Swain wins mtvU/Def Jux contest". MP3.com. Retrieved 2007-02-01. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. Bolden, Janeé (2007-05-29). "On Deck: South Carolina Rapper/Producer Danny!". SOHH.com. Retrieved 2007-06-15. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
4. Patrin, Nate (2007-08-02). "New Music: Danny!'s 'Check it Out'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
5. Ciotti, Corey (2007-07-01). "Check It Out: Danny Swain". URB. Retrieved 2007-07-02. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

• DannySwain.com
• Danny! on MySpace
• Danny! on AllMusic
• Danny! on AOL Music
• Danny! on ARTISTdirect
• Danny! on DefinitiveJux.net
• Danny! on MTV.com
• Danny! on Okayplayer
• Danny! on VH1.com

See also

• Alternative hip-hop
• Hip hop production
• Conscious rap

• 1983 births
• African American musicians
• American rappers
• American record producers
• Hip hop record producers
• Living people
• People from South Carolina
• People from Columbia, South Carolina