Daniel Keith Swain (born August 18, 1983), known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer. Swain rose to prominence after his debut performance on '' Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', where he premiered his song "Evil". After joining Okayplayer Records, Danny! released his album ''

Payback Payback may refer to: * Revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance Payback may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Payback, a member of the fictional comics superhero team Shadow ...

'', cited by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

as one of the best hip-hop releases of the year. 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". Swain has composed

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

that has since been placed in numerous motion pictures and television programs, most notably

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's animated series ''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard that premiered on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox on January 9, 2011. The show centers on the Belcher family—parents Bob Belcher, Bob and Linda Belcher, Linda and t ...

'' for which Swain was awarded an Emmy plaque for his contributions to an episode that won in the Outstanding Animated Program category at the

69th Primetime Emmy Awards The 69th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2016 until May 31, 2017, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 17, 2017 at the Mi ...

in 2017.

Early life

Swain, the only son of military parents, was born in Killeen, Texas and moved to

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

, as a teenager. He attended

Richland Northeast High School Richland Northeast High School is a public high school in Columbia, South Carolina. Richland Northeast, often abbreviated as RNE, RNH, or RNHS, was founded in 1978 to handle the excessive population of students at Spring Valley High School. Spr ...

and began pursuing music as a hobby during his second year. Swain started penning his own lyrics and recorded songs as a showcase for his production.

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''. 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 Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. It was here that he began to work on his second project, '' F.O.O.D.'' The following year Swain officially released his third mixtape '' Charm'', which was notable for featuring an underlying theme of

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or gener ...

in its narrative of a musician who wants success in music to take him away from his day-to-day routine. During this time Swain compiled an instrumental album, '' Dream, Interrupted'', in an effort to promote his production; 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'', Swain received his first big break when MTV played a role in securing him a recording contract with

Definitive Jux Definitive Jux was a record label based in New York City. It was co-founded in 1999 by El-P and Amaechi Uzoigwe. History Definitive Jux was initially known as Def Jux. However, popular hip hop label Def Jam Recordings sued Def Jux over the nam ...

, an independent music label, at the time helmed by

El-P Jaime Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has been a ...

Run the Jewels Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop super-duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album ...

fame. 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 MTVU (formerly stylized as MtvU and mtvU) is an American digital cable TV channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel was first known as VH1 Uno from 2000 to ...

. Though the label's involvement would not amount to a released album—only the single "

Just Friends ''Just Friends'' is a 2005 American Christmas comedy film directed by Roger Kumble, written by Adam 'Tex' Davis and starring Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein and Christopher Marquette. The plot focuses on a formerly obese high ...

", which charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100—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.'' The album was cited at the time by publications such as

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, '' LA Weekly'' and

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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 Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip hop, that originated in both London, United Kingdom and Chicago, United States in the mid to late 1980s. British group the Beatmaster ...

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may b ...

and

lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

/ 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. Interscope Records, through its short-lived digital distribution program, distributed 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 LP ''

'', 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 (later absorbed into Sony/ATV's

Extreme Music Extreme Music is a production music arm of Sony Music Publishing. The company creates and licenses music for use in television, film, advertising, and online media. Their library includes music from artists and composers such as Quincy Jones, ...

production music library) and slowly transitioned into a producer role, landing instrumental placements with various Viacom television programming as well as commercials for

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

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, and incidental music for ''

'' 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. 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), composing music for three scenes. In 2015, a tracklist for ''The Book of Daniel'' was revealed at Swain's website. The album debut was announced for February 29, 2016, but it was not released. Another scheduled date, October 31, 2018, passed without the album release.