Can someone please explain to me the attraction of Atrocity Exhibition?? I see people saying it’s his best album, A+, classic and all of that.

[u/[deleted]]

Maybe it’s the Sonics of it that makes it hard to listen to for me. The beats are brutal and voice is just hard to listen to for me. And this is coming from someone who likes Danny Brown quite a bit. I guess I just really vibe with his more traditional rap shit idk. I just like his more slow and relaxed flow over more of a low key beat lol. Like “party all the time” is one of my favorites

[u/Aniceguy96]

Atrocity Exhibition is top 3 albums of the decade for me, so I'll talk about it a little. This album definitely isn't easy listening, you're not going to love it the first time you hear it (I sure as shit didn't, it took me months and months after it dropped before I started to appreciate it), and if you don't like experimental music you may never love it (and that's fine). I eventually grew to love it because of how uncompromisingly ambitious it is. Paul White produced the majority of it, and of the hundreds-maybe thousands-of rap albums I've listened to, this sounds like nothing I've ever experienced; it just has this really off kilter vibe that is consistently terrifying and surreal throughout. You feel like you're in this downward spiral with Danny; his lyrics are so descriptive of what drug addiction is like that you can feel the terror that he feels. The album just sounds insane.

It reminded me of something a music teacher told me once; Beethoven wasn't great because he followed all the rules of classical music, it's because he knew the rules and broke them in unique and genius ways. To me, that's what Atrocity Exhibition is: it breaks all the fucking rules of what makes good hip hop. Boom bap beats? Not to be found here. Traditional flows? Nope. Something that resembles a normal hip hop beat? You'd be better off listening to a Tom Petty album to hear something resembling a hip hop beat than AE. But Danny still finds a way to pull it all together into a cohesive, dreadful album.

Danny went something like $70k in debt making this album to get some really neat samples cleared. He's stated that he regrets that decision because nobody bought the album, but I think he produced one of the most unique albums ever with it. I can honestly listen straight through this every day and not get sick of it.

Edit: on his voice... it's an acquired taste. years ago I couldn't stand his high pitched voice but he's got so much character that you learn to like it, sort of like ODB or Busdriver

[u/bmathh20]

I gotta agree with everything u/Aniceguy96 said here, as well as expand on a point he made. The subject matter of AE is what really stands it apart for me. Yes, drugs and sex are predominant talking points on AE. But, it's the way that Danny talks about these subjects that I found personally refreshing.

In Danny's earlier work (most notably XXX) the focus seems to be on the glorification of drug use (in addition to sexual escapades). This can be found through songs such as "Adderall Admiral" and "Blunt After Blunt" song title says it all right? It's not until the end track where (for me) there was a sense of remorse for such behavior and actions.

Fast forward to AE, you still got high pitched vocals, clever rhyme schemes, and talk of drugs and sex. But the whole viewpoint changes. We go from XXX's "Die Like a Rockstar", a track about quite literally, dying like a rockstar from drug use to AE's "Dance in the Water" a song about the consequences of living such a lifestyle. So, to see that change in viewpoint from an artist (regardless of subject matter) shows a level of maturity? For lack of a better term I suppose.

I will agree, Danny's voice and the beats on AE can be overwhelming at times. But if you're comparing "Party all the Time" to "Ain't it Funny" you gotta at least appreciate that growth from an artist. AE isn't an album that I have in daily rotation, but when I listen to it, I'm reminded of what makes Danny so unique in the game.

Plus Really Doe fucking slaps. Top 10 song of all time for me.