Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask

Belvedere Jehosophat - Thursday, 26 October 2006 - Print Version

God, I love this man. Doom, Daniel Dumile, the villain lays it down like the best-laid plans. Danger Doom is Danger Mouse and MF Doom.

This concept makes so much sense it's almost intuitive: take MF Doom, pair him with Danger Mouse's excellent beats and have him rap about Adult Swim cartoons. Being that Doom's bread and butter has always been pop culture and other dork-related matters we're not really talking too much of a stretch as far as subject matter is concerned.

And whilst Doom is, as always, on point with the rhymes, spitting absurd nonsense about vats of urine, midgets into crunk, etc, muchos kudos goes to Danger Mouse for the excellent production. The beats are spectacular, flipped and reversed just enough so that the record — which, admittedly, by virtue of its concept, could have turned out pretty bad — never sounds stale. Fourteen songs in forty minutes and there is not one weak track to be found on the record.

There are three guests: Ghostface Killah, Talib Kweli and Cee-Lo. The first two drop rollicking rhymes in "The Mask" and "Old School," respectively. Both rappers are fantastic and, being that they both have energetic flows, they make perfect foils for Doom's monotone rapping. Cee-Lo, who, incidentally, with Danger Mouse is Gnarls Barkley, provides a nice soulful little chorus on the song, "Benzie Box."

The Mouse and the Mask really is a surprise, a kitsch album that manages to pull together all the elements that make for good hip hop: namely, excellent rhymes over excellent beats. This record is so good, in fact, that I'm having some trouble deciding whether it or Doom's collaboration with Madlib, Madvillainy, is better.

another institution, another cross to bear
what did you know? what did you care?

Belvedere Jehosophat