The Atlanta duo talk their forthcoming album Hackers of the World Unite, newfound success, collaborating with Working On Dying and much more
Danger Incorporated have come a long way. Since the formative years of the Atlanta-based rap duo, both Boothlord and Louie Duffelbags have been storytellers and world builders. In elementary school, the two would write short stories about characters who embodied what Booth describes as the ‘Danger Ethic.’ Flash forward a few years, the pair were hunkered down in the basement of Booth’s mother’s house, recording what would go on to become their hit single, “Diamonds.” Four tapes and five years later, Booth and Louie are preparing for the release of their first album with a major label: Hackers of the World Unite.
Headed into 2020, Danger Incorporated are now in the midst of a new wave of popularity. With a loyal following, and a surge in the number of fresh fans, the pair have been grappling with new found fame and attention, as well as novel collaborative opportunities and record deals. The most recent tracks from the genre-bending duo give fans a sense that this is the Danger they’ve been waiting for—and yet, they are still the same Danger they’ve always been: just two friends making hot tracks.
With more listeners than ever, Danger’s upcoming album Hackers of the World Unite has been the subject of enormous speculation and anticipation. We had the opportunity to sit down with Booth and Louie via Zoom to discuss their process for the creation of HOTWU, collaborating with Philly’s Working On Dying, dealing with fame, and what their moms think about it all.
Who is a Danger Boy? Who can claim that title?
Boothlord: You know, I feel like that title has transformed over the years. By now, Danger Boy to me, is like, Danger Gang. So anyone who reps Danger can be a Danger Boy, Danger Gang… that includes us, homies, people listening, people supporting… that’s Danger Gang to me.
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah, if I think back to even like before Danger started, Booth and I would write stories and create characters that would embody some form of, like, lifestyle or message or symbol—
Boothlord: Danger Ethic.
Louie Duffelbags: We wrote this story once, about this fictional character, called Christoff… you remember that shit? This dude’s character is truly just a bad boy, I suppose—
Boothlord: Rude Boy Team.
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah. So I feel like, once we got this Danger shit, initially it was a creation… we created, even though we don’t quite know what this thing is. As the years have gone on, and people actually started using the word—Danger Boy, other than just us—I feel like now it’s a lot harder to define what that is, than say, when we first created it.
So the term has changed over time.
Boothlord: For certain.
Louie Duffelbags: Right, I feel like initially it was like a projection of some really spooky shit that we fucked with, and now it’s something more like a lifestyle and as we’re going, each day, I feel like we’re kind of writing what that is. Kind of like Booth said, now that people fuck with the music and we actually have fans who like what we’re doing, I think those people who are just enjoying the music and wanting to be a Danger Boy or whatever changes what that is as well. But it’s always a really tough question to answer…
What’s the biggest difference between the Danger we saw in your recent single “Fucking For a Reason” and the Danger that we saw in “Diamonds”?
Louie Duffelbags: I don’t know, cause there’s still so much about it that’s the same, you know, like it’s still just us two dudes, OG friends just making them tracks. So much is the same, but I feel like we’re both just so much more mature as individuals—
Boothlord: Facts. How many years ago was that? Four, five years ago?
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah, it was like 2016, 2015—that era. So it’s been four or five years, and we’ve since gone into college and both dipped from college, and we both found ourselves, and serious relationships. We’re both holding it down on, like, just taking on a more adult lifestyle and shit—becoming adults, you know? And our level is also just a lot more impressive. We’re taking this shit to a new level where it’s no more just some joke shit, we’re trying to do something powerful.
Boothlord: But it is fun—
Louie Duffelbags: Still very fun.
Boothlord: Yeah everything has hit a new level, though, since then: the swag, the tracks, the perception of ourselves, and like, we want to do this Danger shit.
Louie Duffelbags: And the dudes who made “Diamonds,” those two dudes were really passionate about music, and also really wanted to be a part of that world, but also maybe hadn’t done something that was officially like, “Oh you are musicians or you have a place in this world.” Whereas now I feel like we’ve done at least enough to say, “Ok, now we’re actually a part of the music world.” We’re part of it now, we’re not just people who want to be a part of it.
Let’s imagine a story like the ones you used to write, where the Louie and Booth that I’m talking to right could travel back in time to talk to the Danger Boys of the past. What would you say to them?
Louie Duffelbags: I would say, “Yoo, it’s gonna work! It’s gonna work, keep going.”
Boothlord: Exactly. It was definitely some dark moments that myself could help my past self with. Moments of true doubt, but—it’s like, “It’s chill. Keep going.”
Louie Duffelbags: I think if our past selves saw us now they’d be ecstatic.
Boothlord: Impressed!
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah, my past self would be like, “Damn, I always wished we’d make it that far, but I didn’t know we’d actually do it!” Or maybe we always did know…
Moving onto the topic of Hackers of the World Unite, what can fans expect?
Boothlord: You know, it’s been a while since we dropped a full project. I think this one is going to be the longest project we ever dropped, like, thirteen, fifteen tracks? Maybe eleven to thirteen… And it’s classic. It’s kind of a new vibe, but it’s definitely got some of that OG Are You Afraid of the Danger Boys essence of real hip hop versus more R&B. I feel like that’s exciting. It’s really, just like, the hottest tracks we’ve ever made.
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah, I feel like ever since Are You Afraid… we’ve sort of like gone away from the more trap type shit. We’ve gone to more of a—like Booth said—R&B realm, whereas with this one we’ve really been taking a step back to those harder, OG sounds. But through this whole journey of writing this album—and we’re still in the middle of that journey, we’re coming towards the end of it—we’ve just been through so many styles and genres, just finding this album. Like we’ve written so many different albums to get to where we are now.
Boothlord: Multiple albums.
Louie Duffelbags: It started in probably 2018, around August or September, and I’d say we wrote an album’s worth of songs at the end of 2018 and then made another album in 2019. And then, in 2020, I feel like we’ve been writing the final songs that are to make up this album, so Hackers of the World Unite is gonna become a sort of—
Boothlord: A “Best of”
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah a sort of a “Best of.” All the best from all those moments. But there were times when I was battling not being able to put new songs out cause we’ve written so much music, like every day, grinding on new songs.
Boothlord: And there’s mad pressure to get songs out from fans.
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah, cause a lot of people want these songs and they don’t see us dropping shit. You know we haven’t dropped anything decent sized since 2018. Like we’re really going in, like every day. But still, after all that stuff, I’m thankful because it allowed us to get to a point where we can make even better music now.
What are the pros and cons of doing an album format, as opposed to the sort of Soundcloud archetype of putting out a new track once or twice a week?
Louie Duffelbags: When I look at artists, the most impressive thing is when someone just drops some shit that is instantly heat, and they have like no track record. And you’re like, “How did they possibly do that? They shouldn’t even be able to do it like that.” I think it’s impressive to drop music that way. So that’s a pro of the album format, but it’s also a con because you have to sacrifice your ability to instantly put your expression out into the world, you know? You have to just sit with your creations longer, which, as a creator is pretty tough to do.
What can you tell us about your new OOGIE MANE-produced single, “Frankenstein”?
Boothlord: Bro it’s one of my favorites on the album to be honest.
Louie Duffelbags: Same.
Boothlord: That shit was fun as fuck to make, still fun as fuck to hear. We linked up with Pink Flamingo, a street racing team in ATL—kinda like underground street racing though—and shot a fire video. Should be dropping this month as well.
Louie Duffelbags: I’m real excited for that song. We did the vocals for that one—by OOGIE MANE who wasn’t present, it was just us and F1LTHY in the studio—but OOGIE MANE had sent over a pack of beats. One of the nights back at the Airbnb in Philly we laid down the vocals for this track and instantly we were like, “Yooo this shit’s crazy.” It was just so hype in the moment. So I’m really excited about this song.
How’d you get in touch with Working On Dying?
Louie Duffelbags: We’ve been fans of their music for years and we knew that other artist friends of ours had collaborated with them, so they would come by but we have never met those dudes. They started interacting with us on IG. F1LTHY followed our account and so the opportunity came where they allowed us to come to their studio and make music with them and instantly we were down, of course. Cause we’re creators but first and foremost we’re really big fans of other people’s music.
Boothlord: Facts.
Louie Duffelbags: We really look up to a ton of other people and their sounds, so to have someone that you really fuck with reach out was crazy. It doesn’t happen too often.
Boothlord: And they’re really cool. Really talented, really cool. Just the ideal link up.
How does the process change when you’re working with other producers?
Louie Duffelbags: I guess the process is pretty similar. The only difference is you’re allowing another person to openly and freely shift things as they like and you just trust in the decisions that they make. Usually it’s just me behind the production, and Booth and I will just go through trial and error with the vocals on our individual parts. With the workingondying stuff, we pulled up and they would cook up some beats and then I would hop in there and it was a lot of collaboration on the beats. But the process was very similar. It was in no way uncomfortable or that different from what we usually do.
Does HOTWU have a “concept album” feel similar to Danger Reality? How does it interact with the rest of the Danger Anthology?
Boothlord: I feel like every project we’ve dropped has a connecting theme throughout all the tracks. Each project does exist within that one theme, but as a whole I feel like all of these projects do exist in the Danger World. Definitely HOTWU has a couple of similar themes that will create this unique vibe to separate it from the other projects, but it’s definitely still building this Danger Ethic to me.
Louie Duffelbags: I feel like every album we do, we set themes beforehand, before the music is even created. Usually it’s just in the form of text. Like with Birds Fly By Night, even before we knew what that was, that concept—that text—already existed and meant something to us. Then it just writes itself and becomes what it needs to become. Same thing we did with Hackers of the World Unite. Even before we figured out what that was going to be, we knew what the name was going to be. And we went through all these sounds trying to find this final album, like we thought we made an album and then it turned out that wasn’t the album. Now we’re here and the thing is writing itself, but there’s always boundaries that are put in place.
How did “Fucking For a Reason” find its way onto the album? Considering that was one of Louie’s solo tracks originally.
Louie Duffelbags: Where we were, in 2019, working on the album that was going to be Hackers of the World Unite, it was far more instrument driven and even a further step away from the origin of Are You Afraid of the Danger Boys? — like the trap shit. It was a much deeper step into recording real guitars and like real pianos and string instruments. The new version of “Fucking For a Reason” definitely existed in that world. So in 2019 we’re taking hella trips back and forth between ATL and L.A. We’d record demos here in ATL at our studio and then go to LA and work with this dude Nate [Donmoyer]—
Boothlord: The goat.
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah that dude is awesome. We work with him on all our songs now. We were trying to make all of these songs into like album ready songs. It was all these guitar driven tracks, and some of them were actual rock tracks, four or five tracks. Some were fusion, acoustic guitar and beats. That new “Fucking For a Reason”—while we were out there working on all these songs, we decided to record that one. I think I had a demo version of it, and we recorded over it with a grand piano and just made the whole song. I think initially Booth and I didn’t see it as a song that would drop before the album, we thought it was just going to be a song that was on the album. We didn’t want that to be a single that represents us and represents HOTWU, but as the discussions went on with the label and our management and where we were with the music, we just decided that that would be one of the singles. It’s definitely one of the more successful drops we’ve had in our musical career, so that’s fire. But I don’t think we necessarily viewed that one as a representation of HOTWU.
Boothlord: Definitely not anymore.
Booth, I was excited to hear you got to sing on that one. Will we hear more singing on HOTWU?
Boothlord: I think we will.
Louie Duffelbags: We definitely will.
Boothlord: Yeah, my style has definitely transformed over the years from more bars-based to just more melodic vocals. I still don’t consider myself a singer, my voice isn’t quite as strong.
Louie Duffelbags: I think you’re a singer, man. You’re definitely a singer.
Boothlord: Well I’m getting more comfortable with that voice. You’ll hear a lot of melodies from me on HOTWU.
Are there any acknowledgements you need to give for the album? Anyone deserves a “With thanks to…” right at the beginning?
Louie Duffelbags: Without a doubt, but thanks to Nate Donmoyer. Over this last year, all of the music we’ve made we’ve gone through him for that final mastering process. A lot of songwriting we did for the new songs was with this guy, and he became a great friend and a guide for us as young men in the music industry.
Boothlord: He’s a super cool dude. Worked with some fire people. Shit, he was one of the original two in Passion Pit, like he started that band.
Louie Duffelbags: He’s the big one, there’s no one else I could put on the list as big as him.
Who have y’all been listening to recently?
Boothlord: Especially since quarantine, I feel like I’m just moving through vibes more quickly than ever. Just switching all around. And also some classics that never really leave the rotation. Lately, I’ve been listening to that new Nav project, Yves Tumor, recently been delving into that Charli XCX. I’ve always been a fan of PC [Music], but didn’t really listen to Charli that much. That shit’s been hitting. Lil Baby, the young goat. Ecco2k just dropped that NTS live, it’s one of the more fire things I’ve seen. That new Bladee too, ooooooh that shit is majestic.
Louie Duffelbags: Boothlord put me onto that Yves Tumor which has been the peak for me right now. Let me look at my Spotify real quick… the first song on my April 2020 playlist–I make playlists every month of the songs I’m listening to–is called “Come Clean” by Hilary Duff. That one’s hard, no cap.
Boothlord: That one is haaaard bro.
Louie Duffelbags: But definitely that new The Garden album, I’d give that a run through or two. Besides that Yves Tumor, I’m mostly revisiting classics. Good ol’ Dean Blunt. Duwap Kaine.
You guys are getting close to a million monthly listeners on Spotify. What’s that been like?
Boothlord: I don’t know at what point I’ll truly feel like [that] “We made it, bro” type swag. Now that we are approaching a million, the goals have completely changed. A million is not enough. It’s like, once we’re ten million, it’ll be like “Bro chill.” I still feel like we have a lot we could get done, a lot more swag to get off. So it’s cool that it’s more people listening that allows us to do more shit, but the journey has just begun, in my eyes.
How has this recent success affected you both?
Louie Duffelbags: I mean it’s affected my whole entire life. It’s changed everything.
Boothlord: Facts. Even lifestyle, like being able to work on tracks full time. That shit is such a blessing. Definitely wasn’t always that way. Niggas was juggling mad things just to stay in the city and make tracks. But like yeah, we’ve really had the same gang since like 2015, and they treat me exactly the same. Other than that, I might see more comments on IG, but I mostly just move with the same people. The real ones.
What do your moms think?
Boothlord: Yo shout out moms.
Louie Duffelbags: I mean, I think my mom is fucking with it. I feel like neither of my parents are too invested in this to be honest.
Boothlord: Yeah, even now. It’s funny. They’ve always been supportive. Like me and Louie recorded “Diamonds” in my mom’s basement—at least my verse. My mom has been aware that we’ve been making tracks for a while. But like, I don’t know…
Louie Duffelbags: They’re supportive, but I don’t think they really know what’s going on.
Boothlord: Yeah, I don’t think they are truly tapped in.
Louie Duffelbags: They might be shocked to be honest. They’d be shook if they saw what was going on.
Were you surprised to see your fan base grow like it has?
Boothlord: That shit is beautiful honestly.
Louie Duffelbags: It feels really great because everything we do is to get to that. We put this before a lot of things, you know.
Boothlord: For certain. And for a long time too.
Louie Duffelbags: A very long time. To see a bit of success feels great. It just reinforces the idea that we’re going to keep going father and farther and farther until we can’t.
Who do you make the music for?
Boothlord: Really it stems from—to this day, you know—if we don’t feel that it’s hot, or we don’t feel like we fuck with it, it doesn’t come out, for certain. So at the base, it’s us. We’re making hot tracks for ourselves. But also at this point, like I mentioned earlier, I feel like Danger Gang is huge now, and so it’s like we make it to share with Danger Gang. But I wouldn’t say I’m catering swag, catering sounds for anybody.
Louie Duffelbags: At its core, we definitely do it for ourselves. But we’re also very aware that people are listening now. I feel like we shape it a little bit for those people. I’ve made decisions in the past because I knew people were going to be listening. Maybe I changed the words I’d say, now that I know there’s listeners, but at the core it’s for us.
Tracks like “Turn Around” and “Let it Out” from the last tape are more about acceptance and perseverance, more feel-good themes. Would you still consider yourselves sad boys if you’re spreading these positive messages?
Boothlord: That’s a good question… I don’t think I ever really considered myself a sad boy, to be honest. It’s more so just that the tracks represent the state of being that we’re in at the time. It’s like a direct representation, and so in 2015 we might have been in this spooky place. 2017 we was like with the birds, flying, real chill. Even these Hacker vibes are completely different. It will change every time, just like we’re changing all the time.
Louie Duffelbags: Yeah, I remember for “Turn Around” and “Let It Out” specifically, and really the whole tape, I remember recording all those songs and recording vocals and I then remember going back and changing a lot of the text specifically to send a more positive message. I feel like that was just where I was at, at the time. But I remember shifting the texts, and switching words, to almost like the opposite. Say there’s a bar with some negative shit, just saying the opposite of one word to change the meaning to some positive shit. I think I’d done that at the time specifically because that was right after we were officially like “Ok, we’re doing this Danger shit, I’m all in. I’m quitting school, and I’m not going to be afraid to tap myself in these public places. Now the person I am full time is this musician.” And I feel like I was seeking some reinforcement and I think that came out in the songs. I don’t know that I can say I’m a sad boy though. I mean, maybe at my core I’ll always have a part of it.
Boothlord: There’s darkness for certain.
Louie Duffelbags: I mean, 2001, got it tatted on me.
Boothlord: Exactly.
Louie Duffelbags: You know, I’m always going to be struggling with sad boy feels, but I don’t even know anymore. I don’t know where our relationship with that text is anymore.
Anything you want to say to the fans?
Louie Duffelbags: Thanks to all the listeners.
Boothlord: Facts. New fans, old fans.
Louie Duffelbags: And maybe there are people just running a track here and there, but it’s changing our whole entire lives. And we’re very grateful and thankful for that, that people are taking the time to listen.