Paul White and Danny Brown seem an unlikely pair: the enigmatic English producer with a penchant for psych and prog-rock, and the eccentric Detroit rap star whose gleeful tales of sex- and drug-fuelled exploits have been met with massive acclaim. But three tracks together on Brown’s breakthrough XXX (Pitchfork Top 20 Albums of 2011) and one on White’s Rapping With Paul White helped establish their producer-MC relationship as one of the finest in hip-hop today. Street Lights might be their best work together yet.

In Street Lights, Paul White ratchets up the tension as his pounding war drums, strings and a spectral choir back Danny Brown’s typically vivid portrait of a Detroit blighted by poverty and neglect, his lyrics peppered with a healthy mix of old-fashioned bragging and flashes of nostalgia.

OHM favourite Dabrye takes on remix duties, and his wailing synths and metallic snares inject the track with a new brutality. A native of Detroit satellite town Ann Arbor, he has released a number of truly groundbreaking albums on Ghostly International under a number of monikers.

Street Lights – and its incredible animated video by London production team Plastic Horse – also serves as a teaser for Danny Brown’s forthcoming album Old, which includes a number of Paul White-produced tracks. This summer will also see the release of Paul White’s Watch The Ants EP on OHM, along with various other solo projects, remixes and production work for the likes of Homeboy Sandman, Trim, Charli XCX and more.

Pre-order 12″ vinyl: paulwhite.bandcamp.com/album/street-…t-danny-brown
Pre-order on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/street-…s-ep/id619682204