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 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) and
Stalley (
Blacklight, 2021).
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. ~ Gregory Heaney