Danny Brown - Stardust (2025) (Hi-Res)

Promising "I'ma write til my wrist break" and to "still be doing this if the pay was minimum wage" on the opening feint "Book of Daniel," rap's most musically exploratory MC dives headfirst into hyperpop for the rest of his sixth solo album. One of the greatest working, Brown vowed to "Scrap or Die" on his decade-defining breakthrough XXX, followed it with palpable bangers carved from subversion and darkness on Old, unleashed the art-damaged freak we all knew he was on Atrocity Exhibition, and those were just his heralded works. The winning streak continued and even deepened when Q-Tip exec-produced the low-key tour de force uknowhatimsayin¿ and JPEGMafia paired with him for the noisy, kaleidoscopic maximalism of Scaring the Hoes. Even the quieter, introspective Quaranta from 2023 revealed itself to be rich and rewarding over repeat listens with some musical tricks of its own; most rappers wouldn't be able to navigate Kassa Overall's astonishing drum fills anchoring "Jenn's Terrific Vacation," for instance.

Now Brown is back to the warp-speed beat switches of Hoes in a glitchier landscape for pop insurgents, with major players of the era like Jane Remover, underscores, and Quadeca on hand to disrupt the status quo. He remains one of the most honest rappers about his struggles: "Everybody know me but I'm losing myself," he worries on "Copycats." But the music presents the upshot of a theoretical post-self identity, digitized candy explosions of house, drum 'n' bass, and multipartite collages like "The End," his most ambitious cut ever at nearly nine minutes. Stardust is easily Brown's quickest-paced album and usually keeps him on his double-time toes, which bodes well for clubgoers on a floorfiller like "Lift You Up," his most straightforward pop song since "Dip" or "Smokin & Drinkin." He's still got jokes like "to be frank, I'ma do it my way" on "Green Light," where the dinky beat combined with Frost Children's hook shakes out to something pretty. And he's still got the fiery IssBrokie duet "Whatever the Case" in the chamber. As ever, Brown finds new expectations to upend. © Daniel Aaron

Tracklist
1. Danny Brown - Book of Daniel
2. Danny Brown - Starburst
3. Danny Brown - Copycats
4. Danny Brown - 1999
5. Danny Brown - Flowers
6. Danny Brown - Lift You Up
7. Danny Brown - Green Light
8. Danny Brown - What You See
9. Danny Brown - Baby
10. Danny Brown - Whatever The Case
11. Danny Brown - 1L0v3myL1f3!
12. Danny Brown - RIGHT FROM WRONG
13. Danny Brown - The End
14. Danny Brown - All4U