Joe Rogan Experience #1902 - Danny Brown

Danny Brown joins Joe Rogan for a loose, funny conversation about the tension between making experimental underground music versus chasing commercial hits. He recounts how listening to podcasts (Rogan, Joey Diaz) shifted his focus from music, how Tom Segura got him into podcasting, and his frustration with how his finished album Quaranta sat unreleased for years. They cover gambling addiction and Danny's reckless casino stories, his short stint in Muay Thai, drug experiences, and the brutal economics of record deals. A recurring thread is Joe repeatedly encouraging Danny to try stand-up comedy that very night, arguing his punchline-based rap writing was essentially stand-up all along.

• Nas wanted to sign Danny to his label, but Danny signed with Warp instead purely because it was more money — a choice he sometimes regrets.
  00:50:53
• Danny's album Quaranta was finished roughly three years earlier; the label held it, he kept writing new songs thinking they were unhappy, then realized the label's chosen tracklist was right.
  01:11:50
• Gambling story: he put $10k on a single roulette number, lost, stormed off leaving his wallet and phone on the table, returned from the airport to find them untouched, and ended up down $5k.
  00:30:13
• Q-Tip vouched for Danny to A-Trac to get him signed to Fool's Gold Records; he signed for just $5,000 and blew the entire bonus at South by Southwest.
  00:54:31
• Danny realizes his punchline-driven rap writing (four punchlines per 16-bar verse) was essentially stand-up comedy the whole time.
  02:04:45
• He put his girlfriend in jiu-jitsu for safety while he toured; she got so good she taught the kids' class, and the power shift contributed to their breakup.
  01:22:42
• A Muay Thai instructor called him out for wearing shiny gold designer shorts instead of focusing on training, and he stopped going to that gym.
  00:12:34

• Danny Brown is 40 years old.
  00:03:41
• Jamie learned audio engineering in school before YouTube tutorials existed for gear like the MPC.
  00:09:57
• His 2019 album was made with Q-Tip; A Tribe Called Quest was his dad's favorite rap group.
  00:48:47
• His album XXX, conceived around being a 30-year-old rapper finally breaking through, earned major critical acclaim.
  00:56:07
• Jonah Hill directed the music video for 'Ain't It Funny' from Atrocity Exhibition.
  01:07:40
• Danny calls Illmatic the greatest album he's ever heard and Nas the best lyricist ever.
  00:57:08
• Warp gave Danny nearly a quarter-million-dollar budget to make an album.
  01:06:38
• Danny argues NBA 2K is effectively an early version of the metaverse.
  01:36:13
• His first time doing cocaine was at Coachella, given to him by his girlfriend's girlfriend.
  01:01:21

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