Danny Brown Debuts "Tell Me What I Don’t Know" and Discusses 'Atrocity Exhibition' With Zane Lowe

A week out from the release of Danny Brown's new Atrocity Exhibition album, the rapper stopped by Beats 1 to discuss the project with Zane Lowe and debut the song "Tell Me What I Don't Know" as today's World Record.

"That one is like pretty much me going back to the old school Danny Brown signature," he told Lowe before elaborating on the Paul White collaboration. "Talking that all that old school shit, coming up in the hood...but still coming at it from a totally different angle than your average hood street rapper would. It's like karate with me. I'm like on black belt status when it comes to beats. A lot of rappers live behind the production. I can rap over anything and make it dope."

The pair plunged into the project, but not before Lowe complimented Danny Brown on tapping into honesty very early on in his career. "I mean I came in the game with no tooth," he responded while laughing. "I can't lie! So I couldn't do nothing but keep it honest. There was no way I could lie to you with no tooth."  

Danny and Zane played the new album track by track, kicking off with the first track, "Downward Spiral." "It's like a Quentin Tarantino movie with me. This is like a pick up from [XXX]. XXX is the core piece...but this is the album that after XXX. This is what I was going through."

He was quick to give credit where credit is due and said "Really Doe" is really Kendrick Lamar's song. "[Kendrick] went to the studio and heard it and just took it. Then he came back and he had a hook on it, a bridge...and then I reached out to Earl and Ab. We threw their verses on it. So, it's really his song."

They also listened to "Hell for It," which Danny dubbed as the most honest song on the album and talked about various sources of inspiration, included slept on albums and even Bowie's last album and incredible career. "I want to go out like that!," he said in reference to Bowie. "That's an artist's dream."

Listen to Danny's new song below and his interview where he plays highlights of his new album with Zane Lowe including never before heard tracks "Downward Spiral," "Hell for It," "Ain't It Funny, "Dance in the Water," and the project's signature weed song, "Get Hi" featuring B-Real, right here. Be ready because Zane Lowe already called the album "one of the top albums of the year...May even be the album. The album is phenomenal." Look out for Atrocity Exhibition to officially drop September 30.