Jesse FairfaxDanny Brown
5-19-13
Danny Brown is a magnetic but troublesome figure in hip-hop. In the past month he's fallen under heavy scrutiny for receiving a blow job while performing in Minneapolis; his opener that night, Kitty, launched into a passionate defense, suggesting that the oral sex was against his will and that the woman who administered it should be arrested for rape. During her opening set in New York a couple weeks ago, meanwhile, certain jackass crowd members chanted, “Suck his dick.”
Credit: Photo: Jesse Fairfax
Last night in Pomona, Kitty didn't open, as her run on his tour had ended. But, still nobody knew what was going to go down; the crowd's lust for a perverted thrill was perhaps just as strong as their passion for Brown's music. A few ladies in attendance, meanwhile, seemed eager to get raunchy; Brown, for his part, has nonchalantly said that what happened in Minneapolis could happen again.
In any case, Brown brushed all of that aside pretty quickly last night; having transcended the limitations of underground rap, he held his believers in the palm of his hand. Young kids were chanting his words verbatim, going nuts to the comedic bawdiness of tracks like the cunnilingus anthem “I Will.”
With a hard-edged style, unkempt hair and an affection for hard drugs, he's basically a rock star who happens to rap for a living. Brown's genius lies in his relatable dysfunction, as he channels his life's reckless abandon. (The tour, after all, is called Old & Reckless.) Brown likes to talk about molly a lot, an addiction he copped to with self-awareness on his album XXX's grim track “DNA.” On stage, he uses his platform to escape reality, and describes his performances as a party.
The Glass House's security was in full effect, and a handful of attendees were escorted out early for offenses ranging from underage drinking to unruly moshing. (At one point it looked like there could be a trampling.) Others chanted things like: “Fuck a [parole officer], fuck a piss test.”
One could have never predicted Brown's rise to prominence, and could have never predicted the controversy that has now made him more famous than ever. There were no sexual shenanigans last night, but it's fair to say his fan base will encourage him in whatever he does.
Overheard In The Crowd: One girl was offering marijuana as a bargaining chip to come up to the front. (“I got all the weed you need.”) She was thrown out, though she later snuck back in.
Random Notebook Dump: The crowd included alternative soul acts Tiffany Gouche & Iman Omari, the rapper Curtiss King and freestyle legend Supernatural.
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