This Is Our Jam: Danny Brown, “Grown Up”

The whole rappers-as-kids thing is nothing new. Nas did it in 1994 on the cover of Illmatic, and The Notorious B.I.G. followed a few months later with Ready To Die. Lil Wayne put a famously tattooed photo of himself on Tha Carter III (and then again, on its sequel, to diminishing returns). And just a few weeks ago, a viral video made the rounds featuring an adorable preschooler rapping along to Kanye West’s "Cold" with more swagger than Yeezy himself.

Yet, even with all the precedent, Danny Brown’s new Greg Brunkalla-directed video for “Grown Up” still feels like something special. The young actor is the spitting image of Brown — and he's cute, to boot, as as he pulls off some (mostly harmless) shenanigans around the neighborhood. The video also takes on the story of how Brown lost his teeth, and the retelling feels entirely plausible. When Brown’s younger self switches from the little hellion to the real guy, you can hardly tell; At 31, he’s still got the goofy charisma of an eight-year-old, and that’s part of what makes him so great.