From Addiction to Success: Danny Brown's Sobriety Journey | Danny Brown DSH #940

Smoking weed is not the worst, but it can be a gateway.

And I truly do believe that it is a gateway in some sense because I can totally see myself being a high at some party.

After the 90 days, I didn't have no craving for it to do it or anything.

It's like once I made it a year, I was like, Man, you know, maybe I can just try it.

You know, man, this weed is different nowadays, man.

I literally took two puffs and was wondering what was going on in my life.

It was always one of those things, like, when does it end?

Like, I used to willingly do this.

I can't believe it.

All right, guys.

Got Danny Brown here today.

Thanks for coming on, man.

Thanks for having me, brother.

Yeah, out here in your hometown, Austin.

I wouldn't call it my hometown just yet.

Only been here a few years.

Home for now.

You liking it though?

Yeah, I live here.

What makes you like it here?

I mean, it's just a, I mean, coming from Detroit, it's just a healthier lifestyle to live here, you know?

Detroit's cold, man.

Yeah, I mean, obviously that, too.

So, but it gets so hot here, it's almost the same thing.

In some sense, like.

I was sweating my ass off yesterday.

My favorite thing about Detroit was was that at least two months three months out the year you can't go outside so that's what i think breeds a lot of creativity yeah being there but here same thing it gets so hot sometimes three to four months out the year you can't even go outside yeah you are very creative you were just journaling outside just now yeah that's just something i picked up in um rehab and just been keeping it going i mean it's just something like you know get up and get all your thoughts out in the morning.

And kind of it's almost like I learned it's kind of like a discipline thing too.

Like if I put it down on paper, then I kind of have to do it yeah you know so you're just writing how you feel just like a stream of consciousness just writing out everything that's cool because these days it's hard to self-reflect because everything's so fast-paced you know people never just sit down and think about their debt yeah I mean it's I wouldn't say it's more like a planning of my day but sometimes like I just put certain things in there like I have to record a song today.

And I don't know, something about it.

When you write it down, it just makes it like you have to do it.

It sticks in my brain or something, I I guess.

No, it's powerful.

I do it too.

I have a gratitude journal.

I have a little diary and I have a sleep journal.

What is that?

I keep track of my dreams.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I'm dating.

I mean,

some of my dreams, I just can't remember them when I wake up.

Yeah, yeah.

And then it's just like, I have a feeling.

Well,

once you start writing them, you'll start remembering them.

So now I remember four days.

I've been having like weird dreams that don't make any sense, though.

So it's like, I don't know.

I saw you say on another show you had sleep paralysis.

Yeah, a few times.

Yeah, that shit's no joke.

Yeah, I thought I was was dying same i really i didn't yeah i had it a few times but it happened once when i was like a teenager and i wasn't like drinking or doing anything then but the last time i had it it was like you know i was partying and stuff so yeah i had it when i was a teenager um dude the guy was choking me out yeah it's pretty much the same thing crazy yeah i thought it was real life yeah like like in like my mom she called like the witch riding your back it's like almost like some i don't know but it was definitely a scary thing to go through i mean what is the basic like do you understand it like why does that happen?

I don't think anyone fully knows, but I did find out my old house was haunted recently.

So I think that guy just didn't like me or whatever that ghost was.

Who knows, though?

I believe in ghosts.

I know that's a controversial thing, but.

I mean, I can't say I came across any ghosts.

I mean, I believe in energies and spirits, I guess.

So I guess I do.

You know, yeah, so I guess I do in some sense.

Yeah, I think when you pass, there's because I've had some close people pass to me, and I feel like I've felt them in certain moments.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, that's deep.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

We're getting deep real quick.

Do you still sleep at 10 p.m.?

Yeah, definitely.

Damn, you're super disciplined.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, you know, I just, I feel like I'm catching up.

It's been many nights I didn't sleep for days.

So,

and then it was a point of time in my life where I couldn't get more than four hours of sleep.

Jeez.

So

it's been really great.

I mean.

Obviously, I use a sleep aid now, you know.

Cannabis?

No, I don't smoke.

I don't do anything.

Oh, yeah?

No, I'm pretty.

i don't even smoke i used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day i don't even smoke cigarettes no more i mean obviously i'm zen nicotine pouches now but those are addicting i heard i don't um no i don't smoke weed i actually once i became a year sober you know'cause i love smoking weed i still do love it you know but i was like you know i i made it a year and plus when i first got out of rehab it was it was real cool while i was in there of course you in there you don't really have no thoughts but as soon as i got home it was almost like fuck like what do i do you know'cause everything i did revolved around me smoking weed with it like if I'm recording music, playing video games, it just, you know, just chilling every day.

So when I got home, it was really hard for me to sleep at night.

So I was, you know, going to my therapist and stuff, and I was just talking to him a lot.

Like, you know, just asking him questions about it.

And he's like, man, at least make it 90 days, you know, while you're in a free world.

And, you know, if you still feel the same way, probably, you know, smoking weed is not the worst, but it can be a gateway, you know?

And I truly do believe that it is a gateway in some sense because I could totally see myself being a high at some some party and somebody like, yo, you want a drink?

And my high brain be like, one drink ain't too bad.

And before I know it, I'm back in the loop.

So I did give it 90 days.

And after the 90 days, I didn't have no craving for it to do it or anything.

But I was on tour and

everybody around me smoked weed all day.

So it's like, once I made it a year, I was like, man, maybe I can just try it.

But man, this weed is different nowadays, man.

I literally took two puffs and was wondering what was going on in my life.

It was always one of of those things, like, when does it end?

Like, I used to willingly do this.

I can't believe it.

So, I'm glad I got that FOMO out the way.

So, I don't, yeah, I don't even have no desire to ever smoke weed again.

Dude, it's too strong now.

It's, like, probably 10 times as strong.

Yeah, because the weed I grew up as a kid smoking, you know, it just make you sleepy and probably eat some bad food or something.

But now this weed is almost like doing heroin, man.

That shit has you questioning existence.

Yeah, so it's just, I just was like, so I'm glad I did get that out the way with.

So now anytime I even think about smoking weed, I just remember back that time in that Seattle dressing room where I was going through my whole life.

Yeah, I had to stop with the edibles, too.

Yeah, I used to love edibles.

I used to love them.

I was up to taking like 1,200 milligrams a day.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, but that was around the time, like I said, I was only getting like four hours of sleep a night, so it was really helping me sleep good.

Dude, if I take 10 milligrams, I'd be like, Yeah, I'm sure I'll be the same way now.

1,200 is insane.

Damn, so weed was a huge part of your life going on.

Yeah, I smoked weed.

I mean, I dabbled with it in my teenage years, but at least every day of my life since I was like 18.

And did you feel like it helped your creativity?

I thought so then, but now since I'm not using and I'm still, and I'm way more creative than ever.

So I feel like if it was anything, it was clouding my, you know, it was blocking my creativity.

Wow.

So I'm impressed with myself to be able to do what I've done as much stuff as I used to do.

That's interesting because there's a lot of artists that say it helps.

I mean, you know, I would take a lot of Adderall too.

That's a whole nother demon, too.

Adderall, you're not eating shit all day.

You're just almost sleeping.

Everyone's taking, what's that, Ozempic now?

Yeah.

That shit's everywhere.

Yeah.

We don't need it.

I'm too skinny for Ozempic, you know?

Yeah, I've been skinny my whole damn life.

You feel the same, same.

I mean, I'm a little skinny fat.

I get a little penguin belly every now and then.

I mean, I'm dropping ever since I've stopped drinking, obviously, you know.

Yeah, so you're done drinking completely.

Yeah, that was like that.

That was like my main focus of going to rehab because moving out here, I was moving out here to get sober and

to clean up.

You know, I feel like, you know, your environment is everything.

And in Detroit, you know, being around my friends and everybody, you know, it would have been really harder for me to, you know, to get clean.

But I moved out here and, you know, I was getting, I was away from the blow and, you know, stuff like that.

But I would go out drinking all the time by mistake sometimes because, you know, we was living downtown and I could just...

end up going to like the whole foods and before i know it i'm something in my alcoholic brain was like just stop at this bar and have a drink and before i know it it's been 10 hours i've been at this bar and now i'm doing blow with a random stranger in the bathroom so it was like it's gonna find you if it needs to you know that escalated quickly there's a lot of bars out here though yes i'm saying but i i just don't even i i kind of just don't even really put myself in that situation no more yeah environment's important why were why do you think you wanted a drink like was it a coping thing Yeah, definitely.

I probably wasn't too satisfied with where I was at in my life, but at the end of the day, it was pretty much all my own doing from my alcoholism and my drug abuse you know that's crazy because you had a lot of success and you're like notoriety but you still weren't happy yeah I mean I think I think everybody always feel like they want more

but you know I at the end of the day I really just believe that it was I was I was a drug addict I was you know I was alcoholic so you can't really get all your blessings when you clouding yourself like that clouding your judgment too and you know ruining relationships being fucked up all the time you know yeah you see a lot of people with that lifestyle actually end up in rehab or something serious.

I mean, it starts out fun, and before you know it, it's not fun anymore, you know?

Yeah, I don't.

I'm not a partier, to be honest.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, I mean, you don't have to be.

You really.

I mean,

once addiction grabs you, you're doing it by yourself.

You don't even got a party no more, you know?

I would say I'm addicted, though, just to like success and networking.

Yeah, that's great.

That's the best way to be.

Yeah.

I mean, once, you know, you drop, I mean, one, one good thing, when you drop all the bad habits, you know, you pick up healthier ones.

Absolutely, yeah.

What's the main focus for you now?

Because I know you do a few things.

I mean, really now I've just been, I mean, I've just been more focused on making music as hard as, like I say, it was fun, you know, you party and

you make music and stuff, but then it get to the point in my life where I was like, let me just, it became more like work.

And I'll be like, let me just get this out the way with so I can go back and do what I was doing.

But now it's like, that is my drug now.

It's just creating stuff.

So, because you literally get a high, you get a high of making something crazy and just sitting back listening to it and be like, oh man, I can't wait to people hear this.

Or just even being on stage.

And after you leave stage, it's like a dopamine rust kind of thing.

So I'm just more addicted to that now.

How do you feel about the current state of the music scene?

I love it.

I think it's always been, people can always complain and say, you know, the good old days and stuff like that.

But I think

me being in Detroit all my life and not really an industry there, so I had to go like to New York and LA to be able to get situations or to be able to work.

And now you can just upload a song.

Anybody can just be able to just make a song and just put it up.

And if it's good, you know, you can get a following from it.

So

I think that's great in anything, you know.

Let's dive more into that because I just had Charleston White on yesterday and he said he wants hip-hop banned.

So you're like the complete opposite.

I mean it's it's that's the thing about hip-hop is that they all box it into one

thing.

You know, it's so many different genres sub-genres inside the genre.

I mean if it it was more you know like rock it's alternative rock hard rock slow rock metal you know I think hip-hop probably needs to be divided up more so he probably just talking about one style of hip-hop yeah he's talking about the drug style yeah killing style I understand that yeah I mean I wouldn't say I mean art art is art you know if that was the case then movies need to be banned you know yeah well he said Russia banned it I didn't even know that but uh I can see that apparently Putin banned it yeah they're strict over there right god damn banning a whole genre It's crazy.

You're killing it with your pod, too.

Hey, yeah, it's fun.

It's something, you know, it definitely gave me more empathy for journalists and people that do interviews.

Oh, yeah, because you were anti-media before that?

I wouldn't say never anti-media, but you know, sometimes just doing a lot of press, you can get, you know, you can get warped.

You can get tired of it, you know?

Yeah.

And not be your best self.

So it was some times where I wasn't putting the best representation of myself out in interviews.

I feel that.

You see that with artists and athletes, but now they're starting their own shows, and it's cool to see their actual perspective on things like Draymond Green and stuff.

Yeah, I love it.

Yeah, before it seemed like the media would just provoke them with certain questions.

Yeah, so you you I definitely have a lot more empathy for people that do this.

Yeah.

You working on an album right now?

Yeah, just pretty much in the beginning stages.

Actually as soon as I leave them here I gotta go to the studio.

Nice.

What's that process look like when you wanna start one?

Like how long does it take on?

Right now it's just pretty much throwing everything to the wall and seeing what sticks.

Then after a while, you know, you're starting to see what works and start to craft around that.

Okay.

Do you have collabs you you want to do?

I mean, right now I'm actually going to a studio with Frost Children, so I've been working with them a lot.

You know, just a lot more people.

I feel like that would challenge me.

The scene's good out here for music, though, in Austin?

I mean, it's a musical place, but I wouldn't say for hip-hop as much, you know?

Yeah.

Right now I was going through like a comedy renaissance, I would say, if anything.

Okay.

I'm a big food guy, so is the food better here or Detroit?

I think Texas is just crazy in general.

You know,

it's almost a cosign to be fat here.

You're skinny here.

They're like, how you do that?

You know, but

I mean, it depends on it's certain things.

Everybody got their certain thing.

You know, like, I feel like I can't get a better corned beef sandwich than Detroit.

You know?

Corned beef.

I love corned beef.

God damn.

I love brisket, too.

Yeah, but the brisket here is crazy.

I can't get any better brisket than in here, you know.

All right, I got that tonight.

Where's your favorite spot to perform at?

Cities or cities.

I mean, I always loved being in Europe because I have more of

I mean I've just been so

like London, you know, my record labels there.

I've been so

it's like one of my biggest influences and how I make music is a lot of the London music.

So

when I'm out there, it's crazy.

It's always love, you know.

So I really love London.

So your labels in London?

Yeah, Warp.

What made you want to sign to an overseas label?

I mean, at the, I mean, they get me.

Like I say, a lot of my music is influenced from

the UK.

But, you know, during that time, and then they're just such a really like historic label.

Like, all the things they've been doing for over the years, and just to be able to be involved with them was just like an honor for me.

What did you think of this recent beef with these artists?

With what artists?

Drake and Kendrick.

I mean, that was just something brewing.

I mean, hip-hop is always a...

a Dick Slinkin contest.

So, I mean, it was something that been brewing.

I'm glad they

got it over with.

I don't know if it's over with.

I mean, I think it's over.

I think it's best.

I think the best.

Yeah, but I'm talking about with Kendrick and Drake.

I think Rick Ross, once it, you know, turns to, like, physical violence, and that's outside of rap music.

You know?

Yeah.

Have you ever gotten in any beasts like that?

No.

So you stay in your own lane.

Yeah, I mean.

I mean, but like I say, rap, it can come, you know?

I could see why people do it because I heard a lot of them were fake.

I mean, the views were nuts.

Yeah.

I don't think.

I don't think this one was but yeah because being because people lose careers.

There's been a lot of artists that they never been the same after they went through something like that.

So I don't think anyone would want to fake it, you know.

So you don't think any of them have been fake in the past?

Nah.

Really?

Not none that I can think of, you know?

I mean if it was fake then it probably wasn't that big, you know?

Yeah, I could see that.

Because you gotta hit below the belt, you know?

Yeah, you know, you can't take things back.

And so, you know.

You don't engage in anything on Twitter or any trolls or anything I mean I used to but you know I'm I'm 40 years old now it's like that's like even though I was in my 30s doing shit like that but at this age of my life I try to not even involve myself in any type of negativity

you've really mellowed out and just kind of don't want any drama no I definitely that's cool yeah I I'm like that now too but I used to really get wrapped up in comments to be honest yeah I mean once you understand how trolling works you know you understand it so I I really don't get I don't let anything that I see online affects me in my personal life.

I feel that, man.

Any upcoming performances?

I'm actually going to Detroit this weekend and opening up a Red Man and Method Man.

Nice.

So I've been a huge fan of them all my life.

So it'd be real great.

I actually met them a few times.

So it's pretty cool.

That's cool.

Who are your biggest inspirations for your music, you'd say?

Nas has always been my favorite rapper.

You know, but like Dizzy Rascal is like one of my hugest influences on me.

I would say MF Doom and Andre 3000 and Prodigy from Ob Deep.

It's like my top five.

And of course, like Ghost Face and E40, but you know, they can all switch to one to five or whatever at any given time.

So you got a little old school taste.

I mean, I'm old.

I mean, what's newer?

I feel like Kendrick has consistently been the best rapper of this newer generation.

Well, he took a few years off, but yeah, coming back with that.

I mean,

we just look at it like that in this new generation, but artist always took two years off.

Really?

You know, Nas never, I mean, now you've seen him be more productive because this is what the climate is, but it always been rappers.

I remember me growing up, like, every two years.

Okay.

See, I like that more, actually, because then they actually have time to think.

I mean, you can get the best project out of them that way.

And then it also gives you time to miss somebody.

And it also gives gives you time to grow with the album that you got from them agree you know when someone releases music so quick it's just you obviously know they didn't have enough time to sit with the music to see if they really like it there's nothing worse than putting out a song and now you on stage and you're like i don't really like this shit no more no 100 because now these labels i don't know if it's the labels but i feel like artists are dropping an album a year i mean that's just them i'm pretty sure labels don't want that oh they don't want that yeah they want to put out the best possible project that they can yes you know that's why you see a lot of artists always complaining like they want i can't drop music, I can't drop music.

I mean, the best thing to do is because I learned this from working with Q-Tip: is that you need to give the music all the love it can possibly get before you put it into the world because once you put it out there, you can't take it back.

So, the best thing to do is sit with it, post, you know, always tinkering with it, do something like I'll sit around with a song for a year or two years before I even think about releasing it.

And do you have people you send it to to get on?

Yeah, I've been, you know, my ARs and my manager and stuff, but it's almost like if you can sit around with a song for two years and you still love it the same way as when you first listened to it, then you know that's something you can put in the world, you know?

Yeah.

Wow, I didn't know that much time went into your stuff.

That's cool, though.

Yeah, I'd probably...

Yeah, I pretty much put out albums every two, sometimes.

This last album, I think, took four years, maybe.

Four years?

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

You ever have songs that just popped off that you didn't expect it?

Yeah, I mean, one of my biggest songs, Grown Up.

I mean, I just made that song in like 15 minutes.

It's almost one of those things where you be like, what?

You know, because sometimes, like I say, you spend so much time on a song and making music, and then you can just do something so quick and it becomes like your biggest song.

It's like crazy.

But I think that's just lightning in a bottle.

You hear stories of that where like their artist's biggest song, they wrote it in like 10 minutes.

I mean, it's lightning in a bottle for the most part.

But you still want to be able to have that groundwork of really solid material that you always fall back on, you know?

Do you ever go through writer's blocks?

Yeah, but I believe

when you're writing about your life and you're telling the truth, you can never really have a writer's block.

Facts.

Yeah, if if you're not making up shit.

Yeah, that's when you can't think of shit because

you're trying to be the coolest and you're trying to say the dopest stuff you can possibly say.

But when you're just writing about what you're going through and you're being honest with your words and whatever you're putting out there, I don't think you can really have a writer's block with that.

I like that.

Yeah, I feel like people can sense authenticity better these days.

But also sometimes I feel like if I do have like, you know, just a creative stint, I think it's time for me to go live life so I can have something to talk about.

Right.

Yeah, because you're just home all day.

If you're just in the studio every day, every day, and that's all you're doing before you know it, you're just gonna be rapping about rapping.

Yeah, it's like those guys that read books all day, they never take action on it 100%.

Dude, it's been cool.

Uh, where can people find you and find where you're performing next?

Um, you know, all my social medias is X Danny, X Brown, X.

And um,

I just pretty much finished a few tours, so now it's time for me to make music, you know.

So, I'll probably be chilling for a little bit.

We'll link your podcast too.

Thank you, definitely.

Yeah, thanks for coming on, man.

Thank you, man.

Yeah, thanks for watching, guys.

See you tomorrow.