Danny! has had an eventful 2007—in a good way. While he had previously been banished from his college for his participation in a scandal that changed students’ grades, this past year saw his ’06 album Charm earn him a trip to the Grammy Awards, and he won a contest with MtvU that landed him a record deal with Definitive Jux. With his Def Jux debut still far from complete, the South Carolinian released the Danny Is Dead EP on his own last summer.

Though Danny Is Dead clocks in at a sparse half hour, Danny! doesn’t waste time. Though he’s gained many comparisons to Kanye West—and, on Charm, humorously referred to himself as “A Tribe Called Quest on acid/EPMD on LSD”—this disc sees him further individualizing his own persona. Combining his tongue-in-cheek punchlines with a casual cockiness makes him an interesting listen, even when he’s not spitting heavy material. On the breezy “The World Is Yours,” he quips lines like, “You tried to deny me but, I don’t give a flying fuck/I’m on iTunes; you’re on ‘iSuck’.” On “Rhyme Writer Crime Fighter,” he jokes, “They don’t give me any superpowers, so I’ve gotta keep more gats than a Papoose verse.” Though Danny!’s strength isn’t in making music with substance, his stylistic sensibilities make up for any shortcomings.

While Danny! doesn’t opt to make much serious music, he’s still capable of tackling concepts. On the highlight track “Press Conference,” he plays both the parts himself and of reporters asking him questions, with a nimble delivery and the same humor that’s found in his other tracks (“What’s your secret to success?” “Jesus, sleep and sex, next?”...”Can we wrap this up? I’ve got to accept some more friend requests on MySpace.”). The aforementioned “Rhyme Writer Crime Fighter” is self-explanatory, and “Check It Out,” a sly musical/lyrical ode to Tribe’s “Find My Way,” finds Danny! talking about female issues.

Self-produced from top to bottom, Danny!’s talents behind the boards deserve just as much kudos as his verbiage. “Press Conference” struts with a slinky bassline and ill horns, and the beat for “Café Surreal Pt. 2” perfectly fits Danny!’s subject matter with playful xylophones , plopping percussion and female ho-hums. “Fly Pt. 2” sees Danny! using his rhymes for self-therapy, but the rising and falling tension of the beat is what makes the song. “Outro (Dead…?)” is an instrumental experiment that works well, both as an individual beat and as a closing to the EP.

While Danny Is Dead isn’t as satisfying as a full-length project would be, it’s a great gauge of Danny!’s talents as a producer and an emcee, and it should be interesting to see how his mellow sounds and quirky rhymes would fit in with El-P’s organized confusion sounds on Def Jux. Either way, be it through an indie label or through his previously-used self-release methods, Danny!’s music needs to be heard.