Danny!

Danny Swain (born 1983), better known by his mononymous stage name Danny! (/ˈdæniˈ/ dan-EE), is an American recording artist and record producer.
Danny! rose to prominence shortly after his debut performance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where he premiered his debut single "Evil"; he subsequently began a side career in voice acting, narrating the fifteenth season of ESPN's Hey Rookie, Welcome To The NFL. Danny! would later make his first appearance on Sesame Street that same year.
Ebony Magazine has listed Danny! among other rising artists in its "Leaders of the New School" piece, calling Danny! one of a handful of "innovators"; GQ would later reiterate the same regarding Danny!'s music production, which has since been placed in numerous television programs and radio advertisements.

Danny!, the only son of military parents, 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 sophomore year. Danny! would later start penning his own lyrics and eventually recorded makeshift songs primarily as a showcase for his production.

2004–2006: Early beginnings, Charm and instrumental albums

After spending nearly a year networking with local artists, Danny! released his 2004 debut mixtape, now renamed The College Kicked-Out. The record received mixed to unfavorable reviews, which Danny! would allude to in much of his later work.

Shortly after Kicked-Out's release, Danny! was accepted to the Savannah College of Art & Design and accordingly relocated to Savannah, Georgia; it was here that he began to work on his second project, F.O.O.D. Then in 2006, Danny! officially released his third mixtape Charm, which was notable for featuring an underlying theme of escapism in its narrative of a musician who wants to achieve success through music and be reprieved of the day-to-day routine in his hometown. Charm went on to become Danny!'s biggest success at the time and, coincidentally, help make the entire premise of the record come true in real life.

During this time Danny! compiled an instrumental album, Dream, Interrupted, in an effort to promote his production prowess; within two years the sequels Dream, Fulfilled and Dream, Extinguished would also be released.

2007–2011: MTV, And I Love H.E.R. and Interscope era

After Charm, Danny! received his first big break when MTV played a role in securing him a recording contract with an underground hip-hop label, at the time helmed by El-P of Run the Jewels fame. The record deal allowed Danny! to record an album for the label and release a 12" single to be accompanied by a 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 managed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009—the deal did establish an ongoing relationship between Danny! and MTV, which would begin using his music extensively in various programming for years to come.

Danny! would continue to gain acclaim, mostly on the merits of his production style, and eventually self-released his debut album, the faux-soundtrack And I Love H.E.R.. The album was cited at the time by publications such as Pitchfork, L.A. Weekly and ABC News as one of the best releases of 2008. And I Love H.E.R. was also notable for introducing yet another musical direction for Danny!, who was experimenting with hip house, downtempo and electronica during the record's inception to produce a sort of "lounge-hop" hybrid that has since become his definitive style, though Danny!'s output would become significantly more experimental and nuanced in subsequent releases. Following And I Love H.E.R.'s success, Danny! completed the Relapse & Madvillainy-inspired Where Is Danny?. Interscope Records, through its short-lived digital distribution program with Tunecore, would quietly distribute a revamped version of the album on iTunes.

2012–present: Breakthrough, music licensing and The Book of Daniel

After the release of his third studio album Payback, the title track for Danny!'s previous record was featured in a commercial for Sonos wireless speakers. Long fascinated with music licensing Danny! subsequently signed on as a composer for MTV's internal Hype Music label and slowly transitioned into a more prominent producer role, landing instrumental placements with various Viacom television programming as well as adverts for Nordstrom, McDonald's, and the FOX animated series Bob's Burgers. However, GQ Magazine revealed that Danny! was indeed working on a follow-up to Payback, initially titled "Deliverance" but later changed to The Book Of Daniel after the book in the Bible. In 2016 Danny! appeared in Sesame Street's "Party Bus" video, which featured an original remix of "The Wheels On The Bus".

Studio albums

• And I Love H.E.R.: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
• Where Is Danny?
• Payback
• The Book Of Daniel

Instrumental albums

• Dream, Interrupted
• Dream, Fulfilled
• Dream, Extinguished

Production credits

Film & television placements/credits