Daniel Keith Swain (born August 18, 1983), known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer.[1]
Swain rose to prominence after his debut performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,[3] where he premiered his song "Evil". After joining Okayplayer Records, Danny! released his album Payback,[1][4] cited by AllMusic as one of the best hip-hop releases of the year.[5] In 2013, Ebony magazine listed Swain among other rising artists in its "Leaders of the New School" piece, calling Swain one of a handful of "innovators".[6]
Swain, the only son of military parents,[8] was born in Killeen, Texas and moved to Columbia, South Carolina, as a teenager. He attended Richland Northeast High School and began pursuing music as a hobby during his second year.[1] Swain started penning his own lyrics and recorded songs as a showcase for his production.[9]
Career
2004–2006: Early beginnings, Charm and instrumental albums
After spending nearly a year networking with local artists, Swain released his debut mixtape The College Kicked-Out.[1][10] The record received mixed to unfavorable reviews—an up-and-coming Charlamagne tha God was among Kicked-Out's critics, panning the mixtape on air while working as a local radio station personality—which Swain would allude to in much of his later work.
Shortly after Kicked-Out's release Swain was accepted to the Savannah College of Art & Design and accordingly relocated to Savannah, Georgia.[1] It was here that he began to work on his second project, F.O.O.D.[10] The following year Swain officially released his third mixtape Charm,[10] which was notable for featuring an underlying theme of escapism in its narrative of a musician who wants success in music to take him away from his day-to-day routine.
It's all people telling you to do this and that…[but] when you do what they say and it still doesn't work in your favor, it's like, 'well, I was fine the way I was'. You just got to keep moving. There's no guarantee for anything.
Swain, on instinct and perseverance (GQ, 2014)[11]
2007–2011: MTV, And I Love H.E.R. and Interscope era
After Charm, Swain received his first big break when MTV played a role in securing him a recording contract with Definitive Jux, an independent music label, at the time helmed by El-P of Run the Jewels fame.[12][13] The record deal allowed Swain to release an album through the label, promoting it with a 12" single and accompanying music video slated for an exclusive premiere on mtvU. Though the label's involvement would not amount to a released album—only the single "Just Friends", which charted on the Billboard Hot 100[14]—the deal did establish an ongoing relationship between Swain and MTV, which began using his music extensively in various programs.
Swain self-released his debut album, the faux-soundtrack And I Love H.E.R.[10] The album was cited at the time by publications such as Pitchfork,[15]LA Weekly[16] and ABC News[17] as one of the best releases of the year. And I Love H.E.R. was also notable for introducing another musical direction for Swain, who was experimenting with hip house, downtempo and lounge/electronica to produce a sort of "lounge-hop" hybrid.
Following And I Love H.E.R.'s success, Swain completed the Where Is Danny? album.[10] Interscope Records, through its short-lived digital distribution program,[18] distributed a revamped version of the album on iTunes.[19]
2012–present: Breakthrough, music licensing and The Book of Daniel
After the release of his third studio LP Payback,[10] the title track of Swain's previous album was featured in a commercial for Sonos wireless speakers. Swain signed on as a composer for MTV's internal Hype Music label[20] (later absorbed into Sony/ATV's Extreme Music production music library) and slowly transitioned into a producer role, landing instrumental placements with various Viacom television programming as well as commercials for Nordstrom, McDonald's, and incidental music for Bob's Burgers and its soundtrack, The Bob's Burgers Music Album.
In 2014, Swain started working on a new album, initially titled Deliverance, but later changed to The Book Of Daniel after the book in the Bible.[11] During the album's development Swain appeared in Sesame Street's "Party Bus" video, which featured an original remix of "The Wheels on the Bus" composed by Swain. He also began working as a voiceover artist, narrating a season of Hey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL in 2016 for ESPN. The following year Swain was awarded an Emmy plaque from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for his musical contributions to the Bob's Burgers episode "Bob Actually" (Outstanding Animated Program, 2017[7]), composing music for three scenes.[21]
In 2015, a tracklist for The Book of Daniel was revealed at Swain's website. The album debut was announced for February 29, 2016,[22] but it was not released. Another scheduled date, October 31, 2018,[23] passed without the album release.
Despite a halt in studio releases, Swain continues to contribute to Bob's Burgers while composing library music and incidental cues under various aliases for Extreme Music.
