Danger Mouse & Black Thought
Cheat Codes
BMG
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The Roots haven’t put out a new album in over eight years. After the Philadelphia-based group announced that they were recording their twelfth studio album End Game in 2016, they’ve faced a nearly endless stream of delays that would take too long to list. In a recent interview with HipHopDx, the band’s drummer/leader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson revealed that the project was approximately 60% done. The group hopes to finish everything in the relatively short window of August to October 2022, by the time Questlove plans to begin filming his planned Sly Stone documentary.
In the meantime, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, The Roots’ lead emcee, continues to thrive. It’s fair to say that he’s in the midst of his artistic stride. Since the release of The Roots’ …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (which contained only six Black Thought verses) in 2014, the Magnificent Mr. Trotter has been on a helluva run. He’s contributed many legendary guest appearances and dropped three different Streams of Thought projects. For these solo endeavors, he works exclusively with a different producer each time out.
Thus far, he’s done excellent work with 9th Wonder, Salaam Remi, and Sean C. None of these three producers were “obvious,” but Thought molded his raps to fit their production stylings perfectly. For his latest project Cheat Codes, he makes the inspired choice of collaborating with Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton. The result is the best non-Roots album of Thought’s career and one of Danger Mouse’s best hip-hop endeavors.
Though Danger Mouse initially made a name for himself as a hip-hop producer in the early ’00s, he branched out into other genres as the decade progressed. He worked behind the boards for artists like Gnarls Barkley (with Cee-Lo Green), Gorillaz, the Black Keys, Sparklehorse, and Michael Kiwanuka. He served as MF DOOM’s partner in beats for The Mouse and the Mask (2005), producing the dedication to the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block in its entirety.
The expanded edition of Mouse and the Mask featured “Mad Nice,” where DOOM split mic time with Black Thought, recording an excellent guest verse. Cheat Codes builds on that initial chemistry, as Danger Mouse goes back to his earlier production days, making extensive use of sampled material, rather than relying on live instrumentation. The result is a dustier aesthetic throughout Cheat Codes, which serves Black Thought well, as he continues to conduct lyrical clinics on each track.
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“No Cold Teeth,” Cheat Codes’ first single, is a perfect preview for the album’s overall flavor. Danger Mouse loops the intro and vocals from Hugh Masekela’s “Stop,” with the bluesy guitar and piano quickly establishing the ruggedness of the production. Black Thought explains his rise to fame and long-standing lyrical dominance, rapping, “Yo, I'm at the top where it‘s lonely / I got everybody mean-mugging like Nick Nolte.”
As always, Black Thought is masterful in his poetic descriptions of the unforgiving environs that shaped him. On the title track, he outlines the harsh reality of growing up in poverty in the United States, and the psychological scars that violence has inflicted on a disproportionately large section of the Black population. “Where hustling became an art,” he raps. “The mantra is managed, not defanged, where shit ain't for the faint of heart.”
Black Thought delivers two of Cheat Codes’ strongest verses on the ethereal “Aquamarine,” the album’s third single. Backed by Michael Kiwanuka on the hook, Thought chronicles his journey as a Black man and an artist, tracking his growth as an emcee as he continuously faces adversity. “Better be willing to pay with every dream that you deferred,” he raps. “If the vehicle should swerve, learn to lean into the curve.” The brief “Identical Death” serves as the other side of the coin, as Thought struggles to cope with his own demons and contradictions. The track’s minute-long instrumental coda is Danger Mouse’s peak moment on Cheat Codes. Drummer J-Zone provides a raw rhythm track, while Danger Mouse layers ghostly sounds over keyboard and vibraphones.
Black Thought partners with some of the best and most consistent emcees rapping today as guests on Cheat Codes. “Because” features the talents of Joey Bada$$ and Russ, who join Thought in describing the unforgiving nature of the inner-city where “n****s below the poverty line live under the gun.” Tariq and Conway warn aspiring Scarfaces about the unglamorous reality of pursuing a life of crime on the gritty “Saltwater.”
Meanwhile, Raekwon joins Thought on “The Darkest Part,” where both describe how the record business and the streets have sought to lead them astray as they’ve pursued careers as emcees. “Strangers” is the most aggressive track on Cheat Codes, featuring guest verses from A$AP Rocky and Run the Jewels. A$AP Rocky has worked with Danger Mouse on his own previous projects, but he rarely sounds as ruthless as he does here, holding his own with Black Thought, Killer Mike, and El-P.
“Belize” features a posthumous appearance by MF DOOM. According to Danger Mouse, the song was originally intended to be a DOOM track featuring Black Thought, but Thought hadn’t been able to record his verse before the Metal-Faced Villain passed. Danger Mouse hooks up a complex track, packed with sprinklings of keys, mournful horns, and a subtle bassline. Both emcees deliver tour-de-forces, as Black Thought raps, “Ock, stop it, it's beyond out-of-pocket / Done-zo, I hit the gun show and got a rocket.” DOOM speaks on his origins in the third person from beyond the grave, rapping, “Back in the days of no laces / On a slow pace, they used to say he might could go places.”
The string and organ heavy “Violas and Lupitas” rounds out Cheat Codes. The track’s somber tone contrasts with Thought animated performance, as he drops a lengthy solo verse, describing the potency of his lyricism. “Never no matter like a vacuum now,” he raps. “I turn your speakers in the back room to mushroom clouds / We on that jet fuel, about to go to Neptune, wow / That ain't a flesh wound, they ’bout to lay your headstone down.”
I honestly hope that moving forward, Black Thought develops a long-term emcee/producer relationship with Danger Mouse. The dynamic works well for this 40-minute endeavor, and it only seems to scratch the surface of more greatness to come. As enjoyable as it is to see Black Thought show his chemistry with a myriad of different producers, I believe that Black Thought and Danger Mouse have created something special here and can continue projects as virtuoso as Cheat Codes.
Notable Tracks: “Aquamarine” | “Belize” | “Strangers” | Violas and Lupitas
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