‘Lost’ by Danny Brown has a bit of an unfair position in the tracklist of Atrocity Exhibition, sandwiched between ‘Really Doe’ – the posse cut featuring Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt – and ‘Ain’t It Funny’ which is one of the most insane hip-hop tracks put to tape. Because of this, ‘Lost’ can seem almost like an interlude; it’s just short of two and a half minutes in length and there aren’t so many production tricks that will wow you immediately on first listen. But it’s those extra listens that reveal how substantial the track is.

What grabbed my attention the first few times was the instrumental loop that keeps the track flowing. Taking a few seconds from Lena Lim’s ‘Flame of Love (戀之火)’, producer Playa Haze creates a strange, skipping backdrop of a stuttering vocal and a wandering horn melody that adds to the spooky vibe. Reminds me of RZA’s production on 36 Chambers which isn’t a bad thing. Danny Brown comes in with no restraint, comparing himself to Stanley Kubrick and a pimp within the first few opening lines of his first verse.

This track, keeping in the same tone with every other song on the album, details Danny’s descent into his downward spiral, but also looks at things in a more confident and optimistic manner(?). Before Brown was a rapper he made and sold cocaine to get his racks up, and now that he is famous he has all the money he needs to buy a whole lot of it. Despite the rampant drug use, he still never managed to get too far gone and kept his head in the game to get success. I think that’s a lesson that’s worth learning. I guess Brown was fond of the track, and so made a music video for it as you can see above. It’s more disturbing than what I envision when listening to the song. Make of it what you will.