Apollo Brown & Planet Asia - Anchovies (2017)

Hailing from the West Michigan town of Grand Rapids, Apollo Brown is a hip-hop producer working out of Detroit. In the tradition of left-field beatmakers like the great J Dilla and Madlib, Brown is a man of many influences, with a sound that owes as much to the yacht rock of Seals & Crofts as it does to classic R&B, pulling from all corners of the music world to craft beats that are as interesting musically as they are rhythmically. While Brown started making beats as a bedroom producer in 1996, it wasn't until he moved to Detroit and became a part of the city's hip-hop scene that he really began to make a name for himself with his production skills on his first pair of beat albums, 2007's Skilled Trade and 2009's Make Do. In 2009, Brown won the Detroit Red Bull Big Tune Championships, and later that year the producer signed on with Mello Music Group.

The following year, Apollo released The Reset, an album of remixed tracks featuring MCs like Black Milk and Big Pooh, and followed it up later that year with Brown Study, a collaboration with Boog Brown. Apollo Brown returned with another pair of albums in 2011, the instrumental Clouds and the Hassaan Mackey collaboration Daily Bread. Keeping up his prolific streak, two collaborations followed in 2012, Trophies, featuring OC, and Dice Game, a team-up with Detroit rapper Guilty Simpson. In 2015, he issued Grandeur, a feature-filled album with Big Pooh, Oddisee, Sean Price, and many others. This was followed by 2016's The Easy Truth, a collaboration with Skyzoo. ~ Gregory Heaney

Anchovies aren’t for everybody. They’re greasy, smelly, salty and oily. Some people love them. Some people hate them. Apollo Brown & Planet Asia’s new collaboration album took inspiration from these polarizing fish and created a project that takes a certain palette to enjoy.

Classic Hiphop meets minimalism and dusty vinyl on Anchovies. Cali Agents alum Planet Asia is as sharp as ever with his lyrical smithing. Apollo Brown’s style is evident behind the dust and grime of these smoky samples. The Detroit producer approached this album like a director would a movie. Apollo painstakingly laid out every detail of the project and knew what he wanted from the finished product. He knew that only one rapper could execute his vision. Enter Planet Asia. The West Coast legend was able to fit directly into the plan and bring his talents to the album, creating a perfect match.

After Apollo Brown’s 2016 The Easy Truth debuted at #3 on the iTunes hiphop charts and #16 on Billboard, the underground veteran has returned with a project aimed at the most diehard fans with the most dirty sensibilities. Anchovies arrives everywhere on August 25, 2017 on Mello Music Group.

“This shit be so dirty. If you threw water at it, it’d turn to mud.” - Planet Asia


Track List:
01. The Smell
02. Panties in a Jumble
03. Diamonds
04. The Aura
05. Dalai Lama Slang feat. Willie The Kid
06. Tiger Bone
07. Duffles
08. Avant Garde
09. Deep in the Casket
10. Fire feat. Tri-State
11. Speak Volumes
12. Pain
13. Get Back
14. Nine Steamin' feat. Guilty Simpson
15. You Love Me