My audio experience with Denaun Porter has been complicated over the years. The Detroit producer/rapper has been in the game thirty years but my introduction to him was D12. A group that was put on by Eminem in the early 2000’s to which I was never a fan of. To my surprise his name would pop up after D12 as a producer on albums from people I was a fan of. What he provided to those albums was pure HEAT and more of what I would want to hear. Yet when I would hear his production on an Eminem albums, the soul of that music he created elsewhere was not present.
In 2015 Denaun released an EP that really showcased the diversity of his music making. ‘Stuff in My Backpack’ is not limited to a major label or one artist outside of Denaun himself, to provide a quick reminder of how he gets down. With features from Royce Da 5’9,” Phonte, Young Roc, Pharoahe Monch and Rapsody, this project is not only satisfying musically but lyrically as well.
Denaun also gets on the mic to rap and also display his harmonic side. Lyrically you will not get “superthug” street raps from him but the audience will hear a more comedic side to the producer. A couple of skits provide that side of Denaun as we go on a journey with him to locate “stuff in his backpack.”
This EP is a quick consolidation of what Denaun Porter can really do when in focus. As I’ve said before, anytime his name comes up in the credits of an album, I look forward to what he will provide. Acts like Eminem clearly want a different sound from Denaun which has confused me for many years. The stuff in “Mr. Porter’s” backpack is why I like the ‘Infinite’ album from “Slim Shady” and might have liked albums after that had he wanted the evolution of that sound. What did you think of the album?
Singles include:
‘Hey’ & ‘Cooking’
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