The age of social media has taught us that the ’90s were probably way messier than we remember. Thanks to there being no Instagram back then, a lot of dirt stayed out of the headlines. Luckily for us, several people from that era are willing to open up and let us in on what exactly went on during the golden era of hip-hop and R&B. This includes Death Row records’ Danny Boy.
Daniel Steward is an American R&B/Soul singer. He was signed to Death Row Records at the age of 16 and made his soundtrack debut in 1994 with the song “Come When I Call,” produced by DJ Quik. By 1995 he was on to his debut single, “Slip N Slide,” which was produced by DeVante Swing and featured Ginuwine on the chorus. Danny is most famous for singing the hook on Tupac’s “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” and “Picture Me Rollin.”Danny is back releasing music and had a single titled “This Song” come out in September.
The release came on the heels of Danny coming out as gay following the passing of a lover he was having an affair with. With a renewed lease on life, Danny has been trying to open up more about his experience in the music industry and give people a deeper look into his history with some of music’s most iconic names. The father of three spoke out following Snoop Dogg’s purchase of Death Row Records. In buying out the label, Snoop wiped the streaming platforms of all its music to prep for rereleases of it all as NFTs.
Danny Boy had been living off the royalties from his songs and immediately spoke out about how removing them hurt his pockets. Furthermore, he noted that while Snoop had reached out and collaborated with several of his Death Row alumni, the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” hitmaker avoided doing a song with him. Danny alleged that this happened because of his sexuality. He later backtracked and said maybe Snoop’s loyalty was to artists on Death Row proper, and he was on The Row instead.
Danny was around for some crucial moments in Death Row history and was able to clear up rumors of a Michael Jackson/Tupac beef. While some sites reported that Michael had turned down a collaboration with Tupac due to his loyalty to Notorious B.I.G., Danny Boy says this is impossible because he sat in a listening session with Michael, who actually really enjoyed Tupac’s album All Eyez on Me.
He also dismissed rumors that Tupac was “close” to Keyshia Cole. “Everybody was close to Pac when he died. Everybody. That’s all you hear. That’s what people do,” he told Art of the Dialogue last year. Back when he was 16, Danny claims to have had an affair with a then 24, Mary J. Blige. Danny claims that when he heard rumors of Mary and Tupac dating, he could not believe it since she had been flying Danny out for dates. “Mary was Pac’s girl. At the time, she was my girl. I’m 15, 16 years old. She’s flying me in to see her,” he confirmed before admitting their relationship was intimate.
Mary J. Blige never confirmed or spoke about having any type of relationship with Danny Boy
