Apollo Brown
Hailing from the West Michigan town of Grand Rapids, Apollo Brown is a hip-hop producer working out of Detroit. In the tradition of left-field beatmakers like the great J Dilla and Madlib, Brown is a man of many influences, with a sound that owes as much to the yacht rock of Seals & Crofts as it does to classic R&B, pulling from all corners of the music world to craft beats that are as interesting musically as they are rhythmically. His vast discography includes the guest-filled The Reset (2010), instrumental works like Skilled Trade (2007) and Clouds (2011), and full-length collaborations with MCs such as Ras Kass (Blasphemy, 2014), Skyzoo (The Easy Truth, 2016), and Joell Ortiz (Mona Lisa, 2018). Brown has also participated in the hip-hop groups the Left and Ugly Heroes. After the guest-heavy city tribute Sincerely, Detroit (2019), he collaborated with artists such as Che' Noir (As God Intended, 2020), Stalley (Blacklight, 2021), and Philmore Greene (Cost of Living, 2022). He also released the instrumental album This Must Be the Place in 2022. Sardines, his second collaboration with Planet Asia, appeared in 2023.
While Brown started making beats as a bedroom producer in 1996, it wasn't until he moved to Detroit and became part of the city's hip-hop scene that he really began to make a name for himself with his production skills on his first pair of beat albums, 2007's Skilled Trade and 2009's Make Do. In 2009, Brown won the Detroit Red Bull Big Tune Championships, and later that year the producer signed on with Mello Music Group. The following year, Apollo released The Reset, an album of remixed tracks featuring MCs like Black Milk and Big Pooh, and followed it up later that year with Brown Study, a collaboration with Boog Brown. Apollo Brown returned with another pair of albums in 2011, the instrumental Clouds and the Hassaan Mackey collaboration Daily Bread. Keeping up his prolific streak, two collaborations followed in 2012, Trophies, featuring OC, and Dice Game, a team-up with Detroit rapper Guilty Simpson. The Brown Tape, a Brown-produced alternate version of Ghostface Killah's Twelve Reasons to Die (originally produced by Adrian Younge), was released in 2013.
In 2015, he issued Grandeur, a feature-filled album with Big Pooh, Oddisee, Sean Price, and many others. This was followed by 2016's The Easy Truth, a collaboration with Skyzoo. He then teamed up with Planet Asia for 2017's Anchovies. In 2018, Brown released albums with Locksmith (No Question) and Joell Ortiz (Mona Lisa). His 2019 full-length Sincerely, Detroit featured dozens of Motor City hip-hop artists, including Royce da 5'9", Slum Village, and Trick Trick. Brown collaborated with Buffalo-based Che' Noir on 2020's full-length As God Intended, which included appearances from Black Thought (the Roots), Skyzoo, and Planet Asia. The collaborations continued into the next year with Lovesick, a joint album with Raheem DeVaughn, and Blacklight, with Stalley. An instrumental album, This Must Be the Place, and the Philmore Greene collaboration Cost of Living both appeared in 2022. A second album with Planet Asia, Sardines, was released in 2023, as well as a fifth anniversary edition of Mona Lisa. Skilled Trade, previously available digitally, was issued on vinyl in 2024.
© Gregory Heaney /TiVo
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Sincerely, Detroit
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 29 Oct 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mona Lisa
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 26 Oct 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Brown Tape
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Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 26 Jan 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cost of Living
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 15 Nov 2022
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Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 19 Nov 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
This Must Be the Place
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 8 Jul 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 22 May 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blasphemy
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
As God Intended
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 10 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Easy Truth
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 30 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trophies
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 1 May 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Thirty Eight
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 29 Apr 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anchovies
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 25 Aug 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Daily Bread
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 26 Jul 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
No Question
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Mello Music Group on 15 Jun 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo