DANGERDOOM - The Mouse And The Mask

HHH Official rating: 3.5/5
Beats rating: 3.5/5
Lyrics rating: 3.5/5
Music Quality: 4/5



by the god Dirty Backpacks


A lot of you more mainstream listeners may not know who MF Doom is. And you may have heard of DJ Dangermouse in passing (he rose to widespread fame after combining Jay-Z's lyrics from The Black Album with The Beatles' beats from The White Album to make the underground unauthorized album The Grey Album). But believe this, there's a whole mess of Hip Hop artists who know who these two are, and Underground Hip Hop heads (like myself) rave over the two's albums and production skills. The announcement that these two were releasing a collaborative album together was music to a backpacker's ears.

The Mouse And The Mask successfully brings together two of underground Hip Hop's most respected artists for an original, quirky concept album inspired by (and in collaboration with) The Cartoon Network's popular Adult Swim late-night line-up of programming. Consequently, throughout the album you hear character voices and skits from Adult Swim's most popular original shows, including "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", "Sealab 2021" and "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" amongst others. So if you hear references to Space Ghost, Meatwad, or Brak, you know why.

Here's the thing - if you've never heard MF Doom, his flow is completely unique and unconventional. Once you get used to it, you'll realize exactly how nice he is, the flow just takes some time to digest. He has so many abstract and obscure pop culture references in his lyrics that it takes a lot of thought and knowledge to get all of them, so as a result, a lot of things may go over people's heads, and people may not get or understand some of his lyrics. It's kind of similar to how the Wu-Tang would drop jewels that went over people's heads, which is why his pairing on "The Mask" with Ghostface Killah is perfect. The two complement each other perfectly.

MF Doom also pairs nicely with backpack favorite Talib Kweli on "Old School Rules", which finds Kweli reflecting on old school cartoons in his rhyme. And he also makes a good pairing with Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo on "Benzi Box".

Maybe it's just me, but I really appreciate beats with a lot of different musical elements involved. Dangermouse's beats are mad musical, and have an old school feel to them. I just find myself loving stuff that's not done on a sythensizer, single keyboard, or single beat machine - hit me off with some chords, organs, guitars, piano, violins, horns, drums, harpsichord, etc. and throw in some breakbeats for good measure. It's the reason Kanye West's album sounds so complete, and while this album isn't even close to that level, Dangermouse's production is very good.

You may actually recognize some of these beats if you're an Adult Swim junkie and pay attention to the music played during the little interludes before the cartoons begin and the music played going into and coming out of the commercial breaks. And the Adult Swim stars who appear all over the album are very silly and funny in their off-beat, sarcastic way - but you don't have to watch any of the toons or necessarily know the characters to enjoy this album. The toon references and voices are somewhat of an added bonus to a pretty dope independent album.

Dangermouse's beats are dope and refreshing, and MF Doom's lyrics cover the spectrum from flat-out dope to flat-out weird. Really - who else would make complete songs about hair or a song called "Vats Of Urine" that's about...well, vats of urine! But don't get it twisted - even when he's being weird, he makes a point, such as on "Vats" where he starts off the song explaining rappers talk about so many absurd things, why not talk about something as absurd as urine? Sure it's weird, and besides the late great Ol' Dirty Bastard, he may be the only rapper who would talk about that type of sh*t, but his philosophy has some merit.

But if yo have any doubt of his skill, simply check out the Wu-Tang-esque "Mince Meat" or my personal favorite on the album, "Crosshairs".

My only complaint is that the songs are rather short in length - it seems like they all fall under 3 minutes, which many may hate. And to those who tend to not use their brain when they listen to music, it may cause them to say "what is he (MF) taling about?" But this collaborative effort is a backpackers dream, and I'll put it out there - this may be the best pairing of an underground MC with an underground DJ this year next to Buckshot & 9th Wonder's wonderful Chemistry project. Being as abstract as it is, I'd recommend downloading a song or to to find out if it suits you, but I think you'll find what I found - an album filled with originality, humor, musicality, and great entertainment.



Track List:



1. El Chupa Nibre
2. Sofa King
3. The Mask w/Ghostface Killah
4. Perfect Hair
5. Benzi Box w/Cee-Lo
6. Old School Rules w/Talib Kweli
7. ATHF (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
8. Basket Case
9. No Names
10. Crosshairs
11. Mince Meat
12. Vats Of Urine
13. Space Hos
14. Bada Bing
15. Beef Rap (Meatwad solo)