''Dream, Fulfilled'' is the second

instrumental hip hop Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "sc ...

album by American rapper

Danny! Daniel Keith Swain (born August 18, 1983), known mononymously as Danny!, is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and composer. Swain rose to prominence after his debut performance on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'', where he premiered h ...

, released on April 23, 2007 under the 1911 Music/Badenov Records imprint. It is a sequel to his 2006 instrumental album '' Dream, Interrupted'' and, like its predecessor, was initially released under Danny's birth name (Daniel Swain) solely in the United Kingdom for reasons still undetermined. The album cover, as well as the tray card and artwork contained within the liner notes, features various photographs of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n youth.

Overview

''Dream, Fulfilled'', like ''Dream, Interrupted'' before it, begins with an excerpt from "Cry Of A Dreamer" by

The Sylvers The Sylvers were an American R&B family vocal group from Watts, Los Angeles, California. They were active during the 1970s, recording the singles "Fool's Paradise", " Boogie Fever", and " Hot Line". Prior to becoming the Sylvers, the four eldes ...

. The album's

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

-- "23 years. 23 ''more'' beats. One man. One hour. One destiny."—also bears similarities to that of ''Dream, Interrupted''. The tagline is once again misleading as "Intro" is not an instrumental, giving ''Dream, Fulfilled'' a total of 22 full-fledged beats. Danny has long insisted that neither the song titles on his instrumental albums, nor the elapsed running times, are arbitrarily chosen and are certainly not a coincidence. As a result, theories have again been made on the reason behind the quantity of tracks and the album's playing time due to the re-use of the 23-track format. Though Danny confirmed a once-unclear theory regarding the make-up of ''Dream, Interrupted'' months after its release, it is still unknown what the 60-minute playing time on ''Dream, Fulfilled'' is meant to represent. The "hidden" meanings behind the names chosen for instrumentals continue to be a topic of discussion in various circles, adding more mystique to both ''Dream, Fulfilled'' and its predecessor. Some song titles, such as "Ms. d'Meener" (which samples an

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a NEA Jazz Ma ...

cover of the 1973 hit single by Foster Sylvers), are self-explanatory. Others, like "Heavenly Ham", "The Gamps", "Home...?" and " Of Shoes And Ships And Sealing-Wax", border on referential, nonsensical, and ethereal. The release of ''Dream, Interrupted'' the previous year helped Danny successfully gain some notoriety as a talented producer aside from his tenure as an equally-skilled rapper. In celebration of both the newfound attention focused on Danny's

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

—and the

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

offer he received from

indie label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Definitive Jux Definitive Jux was a record label based in New York City. It was co-founded in 1999 by El-P and Amaechi Uzoigwe. History Definitive Jux was initially known as Def Jux. However, popular hip hop label Def Jam Recordings sued Def Jux over the name ...

only three months prior—Danny chose to continue the "dream" motif, appropriately giving the album the title ''Dream, Fulfilled''. It was once presumed that Danny released his instrumental albums under his full name as a way to distinguish himself from

, his rapping alter ego, and Daniel Swain, the aspiring producer. Danny partially confirmed this in an interview, claiming that "Danny!" was still "in retirement" during the production of the two LPs, alluding to his temporary defection from music during the latter part of 2006 and the beginning of 2007.

Music

The majority of the beats on ''Dream, Fulfilled'' are, like its predecessor, approximately two-and-a-half minutes long; however, a handful of instrumentals are significantly longer, giving the album a slightly longer playing time than ''Dream, Interrupted''. ''Dream, Fulfilled'' marked a continuation in the departure from the sped-up soul samples Danny was first known for on his debut album '' The College Kicked-Out''. Incorporating mixtures of bossa nova,

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

, sound library recordings and

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife, particularly in African-American, Italian-American, Gay and Latino communities. Its sound features four-on-the-floor ...

helped Danny give ''Dream, Fulfilled'' a far superior album, musically, than any of his previous offerings, including his studio albums. '' Danny Is Dead'' would later feature "Check It Out (Find A Way '07)" as a full-length song with lyrics, titled "Check It Out". In 2008, "Misery" would also be revamped as a new track complete with vocals on Danny!'s critically acclaimed '' And I Love H.E.R.: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''.

Availability

Danny has never yet revealed the reason behind making his instrumental albums only available abroad. ''Dream, Fulfilled'', along with ''Dream, Interrupted'', was a UK-only release; as such, an extremely small number of copies exist in the United States (presumably due to a lack of a substantial budget, however, none of Danny's independent releases have ever been distributed in large quantities). Even in the UK only a limited number of copies have been circulated, making ''Dream, Interrupted'' and ''Dream, Fulfilled'' extremely hard to come by. In an effort to appease fans and interested buyers, Danny eventually decided to make the record attainable in the US and offered ''Dream, Fulfilled'' for sale via

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and various other

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

retail stores in June 2007. Around the same time he also made his entire catalogue—whose titles were all out of print—available for sale digitally, including the once-scarce ''Dream, Interrupted''. In contrast, the original incarnation of ''Dream, Fulfilled'' 's sequel—'' Dream, Extinguished''—has yet to be released commercially for reasons unknown, though the Japanese version has been sold since 2009.

Track listing

# "Intro" (L. Sylvers, Swain) – 1:22 #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Wait" (Eli, Daniel Swain, Barrett) – 1:25 #* Contains a sample from "Love Won't Let Me Wait" by Major Harris, from the 1975 album ''My Way''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "The Train" (O. Paquin, Swain) – 2:34 #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Come To Me" (A. Jobim, E. Lees, Swain) – 3:18 #* Contains a sample from "Dreamer" by

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert; March 29, 1940 – June 5, 2023) was a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer and songwriter. She gained international attention in the mid-1960s following her recording of the song " The Girl f ...

, from the 1965 album ''The Astrud Gilberto Album''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Games They Play" (Swain, Hawes, Simmons, Jefferson) – 2:54 #* Contains samples from "They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play)" by The Spinners, from the 1975 album ''Pick of the Litter''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "No Love (On The Message Boards)" (Winbush, Chainey, Moore, Swain) – 2:12 #* Produced by Daniel Swain #* Contains samples from "Do You Really Love Me?" by Rene & Angela, from the 1980 album ''Rene & Angela''. # "In These Walls" (Bosco, Capitou, Swain) – 2:32 #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "The Chute" (Morrisey, Swain) – 2:33 #* Contains samples from "Fly,Fly,The Route,Shoot" by If, from the 1973 album ''Double Diamond''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Meagan Good" (Stepney, Birdsong, Ayers, Swain, Booker, Henry) – 3:03 #* Contains samples from "Daylight" by

RAMP An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...

, from the 1977 album ''Come into Knowledge'' & "Memory Band" by

Rotary Connection Rotary Connection was an American psychedelic soul band, formed in Chicago in 1966. In addition to their own recordings, including their 1967 debut album '' Rotary Connection'', the band backed Muddy Waters on his 1968 psychedelic blues album ...

, from the 1967 album of the same name. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Heavenly Ham" (Pitts, Barnes, Swain, Lewis) – 1:25 #* Produced by Daniel Swain #* Contains samples from "Heavenly" by Webster Lewis, from the 1980 album ''8 for The Eighties''. # "Misery" (Swain, Timoney) – 4:46 #* Contains samples from "Sau Paraiso" by Arkestra One, from the 2002 album of the same name. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Le Pamplemousse" (Rushen, Swain) – 1:50 #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Pay The Price" (Smith, Swain) – 1:34 #* Contains a sample from "Don't Make Me Pay" by

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for ...

, from the 1977 album ''Any Way You Like It''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "I Just Wanna, Pt. 2" (Archer, Saadiq, Swain ) – 2:50 #* Contains a sample from "

Untitled (How Does It Feel) "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" is a song by American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo. It was released on January 1, 2000, by Virgin Records as a radio single in promotion of his second studio album, ''Voodoo (D'Angelo albu ...

" by

D'angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

, from the 2000 album ''

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "The Gamps" (Sylvers, Swain) – 2:32 #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Out Of Time" (Armstrong, Bell, Bendiksen, Swain) – 2:21 #* Produced by Daniel Swain #* Contains samples from "Along The Beaches" by Lisa Bell, from the 2005 album ''It's All About Love''. # "Of Shoes And Ships And Sealing-Wax" (Clarke, Swain) – 2:35 #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Summer Samba" (Jobim, Swain) – 1:44 #* Contains elements from "Bolinha de Papel", by

João Gilberto João Gilberto (born João Gilberto do Prado Pereira de Oliveira – ; 10 June 1931 – 6 July 2019) was a Brazilian guitarist, singer, and composer who was a pioneer of the musical genre of bossa nova in the late 1950s. Around the world, he w ...

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

and

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...

. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Ms. d'Meener" (Sylvers, Swain) – 2:38 #* Contains samples of "Misdemeanor" by

, from the 1974 album ''Jamaica'' & ''Misdemeanor'' by Foster Sylvers, from the 1973 album ''Foster Sylvers''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Check It Out (Find A Way '07)" (Gilberto, Swain) – 3:49 #* Contains a sample from "Technova" by

Towa Tei is a Japanese artist, record producer, and DJ. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Towa was a member of Deee-Lite, from the US label Elektra Records in 1990 and shot to fame via their international hit single, "Groove Is In the Heart". He made his solo ...

, from the 1995 album ''

Future Listening! ''Future Listening!'' is the debut studio album by Japanese music producer Towa Tei, released on October 21, 1994 by For Life Music. It is Tei's first release after his departure from Deee-Lite. The album was released in the United States on Apri ...

''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "The Magic Is Gone" (Lynne, Swain) – 4:04 #* Produced by Daniel Swain #* Contains samples from " Strange Magic" by

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...

, from the 1975 album '' Face The Music''. # "Still Got Love For You" (Caldwell, Swain) – 2:46 #* Contains a sample from "My Flame" by

Bobby Caldwell Robert Hunter Caldwell (August 15, 1951 – March 14, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz, and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell release ...

, from the 1978 album ''What You Won't Do For Love''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain # "Home...?" (Gonet, Swain) – 3:00 #* Contains samples from "Red Sunset", by Michel Gonet, from the 1976 album ''Mondial Scoop''. #* Produced by Daniel Swain

Personnel

* Daniel Swain - executive producer, producer, art direction, creative director *Olivia Bruyere - keyboards *Paul W. Caine - A&R *Sinclair Devereux - bass *Gus Jones - vibraphone *Eric Morris - piano *Morgan Sherman - acoustic guitar *Audrey Vicks - strings *Adam Zapple - synthesizer

References

External links

* "Dream, Fulfilled" audio snippetscourtesy of Allmusic {{Authority control 2007 albums Danny! albums Instrumental hip-hop albums