For the last year and a half, Brenton Brown has been having an affair. But now it's time to come clean.
"Honestly, I'm excited," he says, obviously relieved. "I couldn't be more happy that it's actually out."
No, Brenton hasn't broken any hearts. He's in love with a girl named music, and the offspring of this indiscretion is Affair, a bossin' 19-track mixtape that's full of flavorful flows, undeniable swag, and stay-in-your-head punch lines.
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-Rapper Brenton Brown Talks Musical Love Affairs and Free Downloads
"As far as I'm concerned, you can be as ignorant as you want in a hook sometimes," Brown says. "But in terms of the lyrics, in terms of the actual verses, I have grown tired of the illiteracy and the kind of boring lyrics that have been coming out lately.
"It's almost like the same thing. Everything's being regurgitated and no one's kind of bringing anything different."
A bookish kid growing up, Brenton recently graduated from college. But instead of pursuing a career behind a desk, he's determined to test his talents on the mike. He knows a lot of people doubt him. He has no label affiliation and he certainly doesn't have endless sums of money. But B. Brown's just gonna keep grinding.
"That's really all I can do," he shrugs. "That's how I keep my head up, really be continually moving forward."
Now, after months of writing, recording, and tweaking, Affair has hit the blogosphere. It even earned a spot on hip-hop blog DatPiff's Top 8 Free Mixtapes, something Brenton's proud of having achieved without resorting to gimmicky tricks.
His success can be attributed to hard work, dedication, and talent. And that makes him feel good, because if there's anything B. Brown doesn't like, it's a wack MC.
"I think that wack MCs, they don't talk about anything else. They only have one thing that they talk about," he insists. "There's no real metaphors. It's very, very plain and simple. Garbage lyrics.
"At the end of the day, hip-hop has evolved from simple lyrics to almost needing storyboards," Brenton adds. "You want the punch lines to fly over heads. A dope MC has you really thinking about his lyrics."
Brown knows in his heart that he wants to be this kind of rhyme-slayer. "I'm trying to make sure that my music and this mixtape aren't one of those things that you can put on and then say, 'Alright, cool,' and delete it from your playlist," he explains.
And Brown's next step: His first post-release show on Wednesday, November 7, at Green Room in Fort Lauderdale. He's looking forward to rhyming with pal GhostWridah and headliners Bodega Bamz and the Tanboys. Until then, Brenton just wants people to give his mixtape a chance.
"For everybody that wants to check out the project, I'm really hoping they do," he said. "'Cause even though it's 19 songs, it's 19 songs you can listen to forward, backwards, song by song, shuffle that shit. You're gonna love it."
Brenton Brown with Bodega Bamz and the Tanboys, MeRCY, Art Morera, and special guest GhostWridah. Wednesday, November 7. Green Room, 109 SW Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale. The show starts at 7 p.m. Call 954-449-1030 or visit greenroomlive.com.
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