Danny Brown just released the tracklist for his forthcoming album, Old -- one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums of the year -- and dropped a new track, "Side A (Old)," last week. A-Trak, Brown’s Fool's Gold labelmate and sometimes collaborator, promises Old will deliver.
“[It's] incredible,” the DJ says. “It's a very complete body of work. It has a Side A and Side B, which are thematically different. Side A is a continuation of his Hybrid-type work, with a lot of psych samples, and Side B is the weirdo club bangers. My favorite song is 'Side B (Dope Song),' produced by Rustie. It sounds crazy futuristic; it's a good marriage between clubby and weird. Danny's range on the album is pretty insane, and this applies as much to his topics as it does to his vocal range. It sounds like where I want hip-hop to go. A lot of rap albums this year were released with mixed results. Danny’s gonna drop his and it’s gonna take everyone to school.”
One rapper who's already done just that, according to A-Trak, is Kendrick Lamar, with his much-discussed and decidedly controversial verse on Big Sean’s "Control (HOF)," which took on rap's elite. “I’m glad that it got people talking and a couple of complacent artists probably got shaken up a bit," A-Trak said. "That’s the sport. It’s standard hip-hop bravado. I’m a battle DJ at heart so I’m always happy to see people get riled up and get into that battle mentality. That’s the shit that I grew up on.”
Meanwhile, A-Trak is busy finishing two projects of his own: a new solo EP, and the debut album for Duck Sauce, his dance project with house producer Armand Van Helden, titled Quack. Both of those efforts are due this fall. While to date has been set, Duck Sauce are currently working on the video for Quack's second single, "Radio Stereo."
