Rating:
  Review Date: July 24, 2008
  Website: Danny! Website
  Label: Badenov Records/1911 Music

Danny! “And I Love H.E.R.” Album Review
“Like them young boys say, let’s keep it real” (credit Eddie Murphy in Life) – the game is overly saturated. Saturated with 60% of wack emcees and producers; 20% lukewarm ones; 15% of those who are “almost there but often overlooked”; and 5% of the hottest, highly promoted the movement has to offer. After listening to Danny!’s “And I Love H.E.R.,” I’m not quite sure where he believes he fits in (not that he should box himself in). But the bottom line is that Danny!’s talent sits at the top 5%, but his name lags behind; and I believe the game is partly at fault.

A portion of the first verse on the opening track Intro says it all in regards to D. Swain’s motivation and inspiration behind this project:

Great Scott jeepers!/
Only thing that changed was my crates got deeper/
Big shoes to fill – word to Aesop’s sneakers/
Supposed to be with Jux/
But I just don’t give a fuck/
What the fuck am I supposed to do?/
Bills don’t pay themselves/
On the shelves where they kept me at/

It’s easy to hear and read the frustrations throughout his album. Danny!, an independent artist who puts in his heart and soul into his music, goes above and beyond to promote his projects; he finally gets with a legendary indie label; but yet gets shafted because they don’t believe in him as much as he does – so they shelf him.

As victimizing as it may sound, I can only rely on his side of the story. It’s a common thing; many artists go through similar obstacles in their careers. Some recover from it and press on, others give up and quit. Danny! is one of those artists who apparently doesn’t quit but just gets better; using his frustrations as motivation to press on.

With much pirating and album sharing these days, from a hip-hop label perspective I can understand why they shelf some new artists compared to their veterans. Push the artist you know will sell, and shelf or promo the others. Sucks but, again, the game is dying business-wise because not many are buying music anymore. First, CDs went out the door because of new mp3 technology, and now paid mp3 downloads because of the Zshare, Rapidshare and sites alike where people can share their music and other files. What is an artist and label to do? Strategize and press on …

At any rate, this album bangs. When I saw Danny! on the list to get reviewed, I knew the sample selection and drum sounds would be sweet, and I wasn’t let down. Relying heavily on ‘70s jazz and disco-style rhythms along with brief interludes, “And I Love H.E.R.” blends like a musical.

Lyrically, Danny! is a witty dude, talking about everything from life’s frustrations, his love for hip-hop and how he is a different artist from the rest. His creative style meshes well with the other artists in my iTouch rotation. Break out tracks include I Want H.E.R., Wanderland and Never Change.

- ScholarMan

Album Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Guess Who’s Back (feat. Naledge)
3. I Want H.E.R. (She’s So Heavy) (feat. Brittany Bosco)
4. At What Price (feat. Maria)
5. Jet Set
6. The Groove
7. Not The One (feat. Kid Syc)
8. Misery (feat. Collette)
9. Intermission (interlude)
10. Wanderland
11. Where You Goin’ (feat. Maria)
12. Never Change (feat. Kid Syc and Branden M. Collins)
13. I Don’t Know (feat. Von Pea and Stephanie Mae)
14. Yoko Ono (feat. Che Grand)
15. Do You
16. After The Love Has Gone
17. Keep Dreamin’