"House Shoes was my introduction to Danny Brown. back when the DJ lived in an apartment off Barham in North Hollywood, I came over one day and the first words out of his mouth when I entered the door were “Danny Brown.” This was early 2008. He played me Detroit State of Mind and Detroit State of Mind 2 pretty much straight through. who was this cat with the crazy voice and no filter? I was still on the fence on whether I loved it or hated it when the Detroit MC sealed the deal with the opening bar: hot like phoenix, three words for ya, kiss my penis.

This was around the time I started haphazardly throwing shows at UC San Diego through a student organization I was in charge of. I’d bring cats from the area I was feeling and throw modestly attended shows highlighting the music I thought folks needed to hear. during my last quarter at school, I got the biggest budget I had yet and brought down a motley crew of performers: Ras_G, Samiyam, Knxwledge, House Shoes, Gaslamp Killer, Invincible and Danny Brown.

I booked Danny flights for a trip that was supposed to last a week. after the San Diego show I drove Knxwledge and Danny up to LA. Shoes had lined up an in-store for Danny at Fat Beats (RIP), which happened right after Danny recorded the early version of his verse for Dilla Bot Vs. The Hybrid off the Jay $tays Paid LP. Mochilla’s Suite For Ma Dukes concert was the next night and Danny was in the balcony seats with his LA folks wildin’ when Take Notice got the orchestral treatment.

I kept in touch with Danny a bit after that, which wasn’t too difficult since he stayed in LA for nearly two months. I started hearing bits of what would be The Hybrid and the evolution in his sound was astronomical, it was like he was taking quantum leaps. this was also when he started going hard on the adderall. I took some roughs from that project when I worked as Jay Electronica’s tour staff on his run with Mos Def in the summer of 2009. everyone I played Danny for was instantly polarized, folks either loved his crass sense of humor and skill or found him to be as enjoyable as nails on a chalkboard.

Danny was my longshot for this project. by the time I got moving on this he’d already signed with Fool’s Gold and was about to drop XXX, which would rightfully establish him as one of the fiercest MC’s out. I emailed and DM’d to no avail, so one day I picked up the phone and called. the stars were aligned and a rapper actually answered his phone. in a conversation that lasted less than two minutes, he agreed to cut a track for me.

i emailed him a .zip of beats I’d gathered from the homies. about a week after that I got a sendspace link in my inbox entitled “SWEENY SONG.” he had taken a Mndsgn beat and shredded it to pieces. I fixed his typo and ran with it."

- sweeney