Rating: **** As the popularity of both producer Danger Mouse and rapper/producer MF Doom has exploded over the past 18 months, it seems only natural...

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Rating: ****
As the popularity of both producer Danger Mouse and rapper/producer MF Doom has exploded over the past 18 months, it seems only natural that two of the most inventive and creative artists in Hip-Hop should combine their talents on one record. With The Mouse & The Mask (Epitaph), the duo, under the moniker of DANGERDOOM, has crafted one of the best Hip-Hop albums in recent memory.

Produced in conjunction with Adult Swim, Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block of which Doom and Danger are both devoted fans, the concept album is laced with references to Adult Swim shows such as “Harvey Birdman”, “Space Ghost” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” (featured the most as it’s Doom's personal favorite). Using both samples from the show and original material as skits, the edgy humor ensures Mouse & Mask as that rare Hip-Hop album where the skits are not just tolerable, but funny.


The phrase “Rewards repeated listens” is often music critic slang for an overrated album you won't admit is crap. In this case, however, Doom's non-sequitur lyrics and Mouse’s nuanced beats warrant the phrase. At only 40 minutes, Doom packs in more words than on any of his previous releases, dropping his standard barrage of obscure phrases and even more obscure references. In one of the most bizarre topics ever chosen for a Hip-Hop track, Doom bluntly states his intentions early on “Vats of Urine”: “Everybody talkin’ ‘bout pistols, gats, it’s boring/Came with a new topic to flip you: vats of urine.” Don’t look for any deep metaphors. Just enjoy the sheer weirdness. The Mouse & The Mask is filled with lyrical wordplay that maintains Doom’s “leftfield madman” status.

In keeping with the theme of cartoons, Danger Mouse's playful beats rely generously on strings, keyboard stabs and 70s funk horn blasts that rank as some of his best work yet. On standout tracks “The Mask” and “Old School,” you can picture Mouse thinking back to Saturday morning superhero themes as guests Ghostface Killah (“My money green like my nickname is celery.”) and Talib Kweli, respectively, murder their tracks. Elsewhere, Cee-Lo provides the rare hook on “Benzi Box” over what sounds like an unused Gorillaz beat.

The Mouse & the Mask is a near-perfect marriage between these two forward-thinking individuals. Rather than diluting each other’s talents, the duo once again expand the boundaries of conventional Hip-Hop.

www.allhiphop.com

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Rapping with cartoon characters was artistic suicide until Gorillaz dropped a bomb in 2001 with a platinum album and what turned out to be a surprisingly...

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Rapping with cartoon characters was artistic suicide until Gorillaz dropped a bomb in 2001 with a platinum album and what turned out to be a surprisingly long shelf life. Next out of the box is Danger Doom, the stunning and welcome collaboration of two of hip-hop's most innovative artists, both of whom already have close ties to the world of animation — Danger Mouse not only named himself after a cartoon but is also a part-time Gorillaz beatmaker, and the rapper MF Doom has imagined himself variously as a comic-book character and fire-breathing monster-movie hero (not to mention, he's rarely photographed without wearing an iron mask that makes him look like an early version of the Marvel supervillain Doctor Doom). Their partners for The Mouse and the Mask are the characters of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, a cast whose creators share with Danger Mouse and MF Doom the same influences (obscure '70s superheroes, some making a resurgence on Adult Swim) and motivations (a parade of surrealist fantasies intersecting with real life, like the crusading happy meal that airs on Cartoon Network as Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Granted, none of these cartoon characters are rappers, and they're wisely given only backgrounds, transitions, or samples (all of them hilarious). No, it's the experts who handle nearly all of this record, and they're at the top of their game. Doom's dense flow and ciphered allusions have much in common with Adult Swim; both presuppose a large body of cultural knowledge to appreciate what's going on and both rely on a series of bankable eccentricities presented at light speed with high artistry and innumerable subtleties for later parsing by fans. Danger Mouse's productions have the same punch and catchy flair as on Gorillaz's Demon Days, but they're even more impressive here with the absence of Damon Albarn's interference and need to court a pop audience. He calls on the same type of rollerskating pianos, brassy fanfares, flutes, vibraphones, and cavernous drum loops that anyone of a certain age will recall from Fat Albert or Electric Company. It all adds up to the best album of the year in the hip-hop underground, and perhaps the best with any degree of popularity.

www.allmusic.com

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