DANNY BROWN - Stardust

The sixth album by Danny Brown, “Stardust”, follows another deep personal crisis, this time caused by alcoholism: after contemplating retirement in 2023, the year he released the brooding “Quaranta”, his Covid album, he went through a period of rehab and solitude. He fell for 100 gecs and became obsessed with hyperpop, digicore and the deconstructed-club scene: in short, he fell in love with contemporary electronic music. Billed as the first album he's written sober - and it's easy to believe it given how a masterpiece like “XXX” (2011) sounded - this “Stardust” is nonetheless anything but boring or predictable. Freed from the effects of substances, Danny Brown comes across as hyperactive and unpredictable, even (at times) joyful.

The wild story of Dusty Star: a hyperactive concept album

Built as a kind of concept album about a semi-autobiographical character named Dusty Star, it links back to the EDM explored already on “Old” (2013), but it sounds like a new, disorienting chapter in his ever-shifting career.

Reborn into a new life, as described on the serene opener “Book Of Daniel”, alongside Quadeca, he's ready to let loose on the tracks that follow, an assault of hyperactive electronics.

The explosive “Starburst”, initially riding a beat with frantic synth melodies, splits in two: after two minutes it transforms, doubles in speed and becomes caffeinated EDM, frantic and impossible to pin down. “Copycats” (featuring Underscores) is no less intense, with a more danceable feel that doesn't skimp on distortion either. You're submerged in sound, swept away by tracks that will put your eardrums to the test and could leave the less seasoned listeners reeling.

The piercing screams and gabber four-on-the-floor of “1999” (featuring JOHNNASCUS), the more Latin rhythm of “Flowers” (featuring 8485), the festive, frenzied house of “Lift You Up” lead into “Green Light” (featuring Frost Children): its heavenly chorus offers a chance to catch your breath, amid verses crowded with Danny Brown's words.

The sweeter “What You See”, again with Quadeca, is a balm made of piano and melancholy, with the usual uniquely raw honesty:

Snoop Dogg said they all hoes and tricks

Was just a teenager only thinking with my dick

Got my heart broke once and haven’t recovered since

After that, I said that I would never be faithful again

There's barely time to dry your eyes before things kick off again: for instance, battered by the spatial build-up explosions of “Whatever The Case” (featuring ISSBROKIE tearing into the mic) and bombarded by the dynamite-laced, layered drum'n'bass of “1l0v3myl1f3!” (featuring Femtanyl).

This is “The End”: Danny Brown's rehab in 9 minutes

In the fast-paced, disorienting flow of the album, one fixed point is “The End”, a multi-artist collaboration with Cynthoni, ta Ukrainka, Zheani, Angel Emoji, Rye Mann and Quadeca: across nearly 9 minutes, three souls coexist within the same composition, a summary of his recovery journey from the drugs he's abused his whole life.

A parallel can be drawn with the track “Goodbye” by Sewerslvt, similar in structure and in some stylistic choices too; this is reinforced by the fact that Cynthoni and Sewerslvt are both projects traced back to Jvne.

The first part, with one section sung in Ukrainian and another in Polish, thrives on the contrast between a dreamy piano and a frantic drum'n'bass rhythm. Danny Brown writes more verses of aching honesty about his own past:

Lookin’ in my eyes, you see no light, was off the meds

Wait until the music only express what’s depressed

Over time, I was losin’, was so stressed, I couldn’t accept it

A junkie, alcoholic, whatever you call it, I was all that

The second one heightens the contrast between the supersonic groove, worthy of Alec Empire or Venetian Snares, and ethereal synths, continuing to tell the story of the struggle with addiction:

Destroyed my life, didn’t think twice, I was stuck in

Addiction, contradictions, wouldn’t listen, lost my vision

Blinded by that drink and both my problems, couldn’t admit it

The third and final part is a sort of spiritual revelation, set over a heavenly bed of dreamy guitars. It features a poem recited by Angel Emoji, which closes with a melancholy reflection on serenity:

But God, can we enjoy something before we crest and sink into sleep—

Can we enjoy something before we crest and sink into sleep—

Can we enjoy something before we crest and sink into sleep forever?

Naked and wounded: an imperfect, messy, moving album

“Stardust” is a frenetic, hyperactive, often excessive album that tells the story of a rebirth without forgetting the pain it cost Danny Brown. It demands attention and patience from the listener, who has to accept being pulled this way and that by the rapper, but also to listen to the confessions of a man afflicted and devastated by addiction. It's incoherent and messy, at times even long-winded, but, as is often the case with Danny Brown, it's also a concentrate of disarming sincerity, rapping skill, and an ability to contaminate his own sound to the point of making it unrecognizable.

While far from perfect, it's a listen worth recommending to anyone willing to go through an intense experience, for both the eardrums and the heart.

As much as, if not more than, in the past, he presents himself to us naked, covered in scars and carrying a cumbersome past on his shoulders. When he closes with the lines of “All4U”, it's easy, once again, to risk being moved:

Know some failed, I was livin’ in hell

But now it’s heaven on earth

So I spit this verse and it ain’t hard to tell

Y’all ain’t no fan, y’all made me a man

Y’all like my angels on my shoulder

Devil in the rear view, I still hear you

I’ma keep goin’ ’til my life is over

Now I do it all for you

Now I do it all for you (All for you)

Now I do it all for you

Now I do it all for you (All for you)

Now I do it all for you

Now I do it all for you (All for you)

Now I do it all for you

Now I do it all for you (All for you)

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24/11/2025