Grade: A-
Oddball rapper Danny Brown’s third studio album “Old” is streaming on Spotify one week before its release on Oct. 8. The rock-rap album, arranged into a Side A and B, is distinct from “the old Danny Brown” he references in the title track. The production value is through the roof with producers like UK trap guru Rustie and Detroit’s SKYWLKR; every track is surprising and catchy, but still clearly a Danny Brown beat. The delightfully trippy “Wonderbread” features a cartoonishly dreamy beat overlaid by Brown’s euphemistic lyrics about getting some Wonderbread. Several tracks, including the sincere  “Lonely,” sport a toned-down, mellow flow unlike Danny’s trademark screech. Some songs, like “Torture,” fall flat, but the “Old” experiment is an overall success. It’s an exciting reminder that hip-hop is not dead, comatose or even sleeping.