Danger Mouse and Black Thought Are at the Top of Their Game — No Cheat Codes Required
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The post Danger Mouse and Black Thought Are at the Top of Their Game — No Cheat Codes Required appeared first on Consequence.
It’s easy to forget just how much weight the names Brian Burton and Tarik Trotter – better known as Danger Mouse and Black Thought – carry in the music industry today. Their names are never too far out of mind, but producer credits and talk show duties can sometimes cloud the impact of their actual music. So, with the release of the excellent Cheat Codes (out Friday, August 12th) here’s a quick reminder of just how accomplished these two gentlemen are.
After gaining widespread attention with the iconic Grey Album (a mashup of Jay-Z’s The Black Album and The Beatles’ “White Album”), Danger Mouse quickly established himself as a powerhouse, genre-less producer. He released collaborative full-lengths with the likes of MF DOOM and Sparklehorse, acted as a band member for Gnarls Barkley and Broken Bells, and helmed the boards for artists like Gorillaz, Beck, ASAP ROCKY, Adele, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. At this point, having a sticker on your project that reads “produced by Danger Mouse” is nearly as valuable as having one that reads “Grammy-winning.” In fact, the two often find themselves placed on the same projects.
Black Thought, on the other hand, has spent his career in the spotlight. Fronting the legendary, highly influential hip-hop group The Roots, Black Thought has finally begun to be recognized for what he is — one of the best MCs of all time. Whether it’s sparked by the increased visibility that comes from his tenure on The Tonight Show or his 2017 viral freestyle on Funk Flex, Black Thought topping more and more “Best Rappers Ever” lists proves that there is at least some justice in this world.
Before Black Thought teased Cheat Codes in 2020, though, few could have predicted the record’s arrival. Sure, the two had run in similar circles for years, establishing a personal relationship during that time, but each seemed to be set on their own path. Black Thought was in the midst of his Streams of Thought series, was penning the music and performing in the Off-Broadway production Black No More, and, of course, was continuing to be one of the best parts of The Tonight Show. =
Danger Mouse, for his part, hadn’t dropped a full-length hip-hop project since 2005’s Danger Doom, instead playing a larger role in the alternative rock scene as a go-to producer for megastars (like U2) and indie favorites (like Parquet Courts) alike.
“We both thought the other person maybe was too busy,” Danger Mouse tells Consequence, “but we weren’t.”
And thank god for that, because with Cheat Codes Danger Mouse and Black Thought deliver a timeless, no-frills collection of tracks that reminds fans why each artist is so acclaimed. With Danger Mouse’s signature sample flips and Black Thought at the top of his game as a rhymer, the record calls back to both artists’ most canonized releases while remaining as fresh as ever.
“It’s almost like we made what we felt was missing,” Black Thought tells Consequence. “We made what we wanted to hear for ourselves. And, you know, this is the result. It just feels like the ideal fit.” “And it did feel good to make that kind of record,” Danger Mouse adds.
It feels just as good to listen to. Cheat Codes is the sound of two legendary artists unfettered by their status, paying no mind to anyone’s expectations save for themselves. It’s not a return to form; it’s a reminder that Danger Mouse and Black Thought are the type of artists who define the form.
Check out the full interview with Black Thought and Danger Mouse’s below.
I know that your relationship with each other goes quite a bit back, as does the idea of collaborating. What was the spark that led you guys to decide to go and finish the project?
Danger Mouse: It was more like, let’s start this thing. We did know each other and were in each other’s circles for a long time, and we did mess around a little bit years ago, but never with a real, deliberate plan. Then, we were on the phone back in 2017, I guess, and we hadn’t talked in ages. And we both wanted to do it. We both thought the other person maybe was too busy, but we weren’t. So, within a day or two, we were starting recording. So the bulk of it was done in 2018-2019. And then a little break because, you know, the pandemic, but we worked during that time too.
Now I’m curious how different Cheat Codes would have turned out if you guys had recorded the project when you were initially kicking around the idea all those years back.
Black Thought: I think it’s hard to say. Without wanting to make a project that is gonna feel dated, I think the process is always informed by the times. So, I think maybe there’s a different urgency in this record, because it’s happening now as opposed to when we first clicked up.
Danger Mouse: I think it would have been maybe similar in feel, but it definitely would have sounded different, as it just would have been different beats, different rhymes; everything would be different. But I think the one of the reasons it didn’t matter for me, the time that it took us, was because the things that we do and like to do didn’t change. People would have liked this record if it had come out back then, and we don’t have to adjust for people to like it now. And hopefully, in the future, the same thing.
But at this point, the kind of stuff we’re doing, it’s something that has its own lane based on the kind of music we grew up listening to. It’s been a long time since [hip-hop] has been a “fad.” It’s been going on for a long, long time. So this type of music that we’re doing is just here. It’s going to be around in 30, 40, 50 years, and it has been for a while. So there’s no shame in doing music that sounds like this.
This is its own part of hip-hop. Hip-hop is such a bigger thing now and understood to be that. If you just called music “rock music,” you’d probably want to be more specific. If you just said it was “rap music,” same thing. So, this is the particular type of thing that we would have probably done 15 years ago. It’s the stuff that we gravitate towards.
Leading up to the project’s announcement, Tarik categorized both of you as sort of “elder statesmen.” Does that type of status in the hip-hop or greater music community add any sense of pressure?
Danger Mouse: No, I didn’t feel any pressure at all. I think that we’re both pretty critical of stuff. And so, if it gets past both of us, then we’re pretty good at that point. And that’s kind of the way I’m going to work with people anyways. That’s all you can really worry about. I don’t think other people really… they’re not there to understand the different directions it could have gone. Like, I don’t trust other people’s choices of which way they would go while you’re in the middle of making something — I trust mine.
So that’s what we’re always doing. We’re following: “Oh, well, it feels like it should go this way. It feels like it should go that way.” And that’s just what we do. But the pressure, no, I don’t think so. I do feel pressure when I’m presenting music to Tarik. I’m always excited and telling him I have all this great stuff. I tell him I have like 10 new things. And by the time he gets there, I’m like, “I got two.” So that’s the kind of pressure I guess, but it’s not even pressure. That’s the scrutiny I feel that we have on ourselves.
I think maybe I would have felt more [pressure] back when we first started, I guess, because I would have been more new. But at this point, I’ve done it. We both done lots and lots of albums. So, it’s like that part of it is not… that’s the fun of it. It’s fun making whole albums with somebody, you know?
When it comes to the process between you two, is that how it starts? You come to Tarik with a beat or a loop and he writes for it?
Danger Mouse: Yeah, I come up with a bunch of music that’s usually not completely finished, they are ideas, and then he’ll pick the ones that he gravitates toward. Then, he’ll write to them. Once he does, I go back and tinker more. And then he goes back, and maybe does something else too. So we go back and forth like that. And we usually have multiple things going on at the same time. But that’s the general process.
Black Thought: Yeah, the way I work with a producer, or collaborate with anyone, is unique to how that person and I work together. So yeah, it’s different. It’s definitely different working with Brian than it is doing some Roots stuff or, you know, or any other sort of collaboration.
Speaking of collaboration, the feature list on the project is great. I think a lot of people particularly perked up when they saw the MF DOOM feature. What does that feature mean to you two and the project in the wake of his passing?
Danger Mouse: Well, we had done some stuff years after the Danger Doom album. We had kept working and then there were a few songs where Tarik and DOOM were both on, songs that I was working on. I would give DOOM a track with Tarik on it and vice versa. But this one in particular wasn’t finished. I think that by the time it was right about to come out, there was… I wouldn’t say pressure, but you feel like it’s got to be as good as it’s going to be. So the beat got changed around a lot before it came out. I’m really happy with what we settled on, where the track wound up in the end. I’m glad we were able to do it in a way that it fits so well with the rest of the album.
Black Thought: I mean, as one would expect, I feel like there’s a little more weight on the record. I feel like it means more. I think this is the sort of collaboration that we might have taken for granted before, you know what I mean? It feels that much more timely and special.
Speaking to the album as a whole, in the initial interview Tarik did teasing the project, he alluded to it being a “feel-good” record.
Black Thought: I think what I may have said is that this just feels good. And I think what I mean by that is, just aesthetically, it’s almost like we made what we felt was missing. We made what we wanted to hear for ourselves. And, you know, this is the result. It just feels like the ideal fit.
Danger Mouse: And it did feel good to make that kind of record.
Not that you ever left the space, but this is the first full-length Danger Mouse hip-hop collaboration since Danger Doom in 2005. Why such a long gap?
Danger Mouse: It wasn’t super deliberate. And this was much more about working with Tarik specifically. I don’t look at him so much as a genre as much as an artist. So, I wanted to work with Tarik. It wasn’t really about reentering the genre. I do think that when I worked with [A$AP] Rocky, he got me back into sampling. So, that’s what eventually got this going. That was a good kind of warm up, in a way.
But yeah, finding somebody who wants to go in and take the time to really do the work and do the stuff that we do isn’t always easy, either. And Tarik was always my favorite rapper. Back after the Grey Album, I saw that I was gonna get some opportunities I should jump on. And as far as hip-hop records were concerned, or rappers, he was the first person and the only person at the time. I was like, “I have to work with Black Thought, he’s my favorite.” But then Gnarls Barkley happened, and then Broken Bells happened, and then I was on some other things.
So, it’s not super purposeful to stay away from the genre as much as going with things that feel good and stuff I just wanted to do. And I wanted to do [Cheat Codes], so that’s why we’re doing it now. I do get the idea of it being a long time since something that sounds like this, but it wasn’t as purposeful.
Tarik, you recently dipped your toes into musical theater with Black No More. Did that influence the way you write or perform?
Black Thought: Doing a musical definitely has changed the way that I perform. It’s given me a different appreciation for stillness. You know, the stoic performer. Less is more, sort of thing. Just ways to communicate beyond the obvious, and how to sort of convey emotion.
Are there any plans to perform these songs? Any talks of a tour together or some one-off dates?
Black Thought: Right now, I don’t think there are. But, again, maybe…
To my ears, 2022 has been a great year for hip-hop and music in general. Is there anything out there that has been catching your attention as of late?
Danger Mouse: I’m trying to think… I don’t usually like to name things. I will say, and it’s not just a plug, but it’s just easier to say, I do a playlist. So if you grab any things off of that you’ll see. But the record I’ve been listening to the most recently is from this guy named Sam Cohen, which is one of my favorite albums this year. So I’ll stick to that.
Black Thought: I have so many different projects in the works that I’m always listening to what I’m working on. But I do like Brian’s playlist.
Danger Mouse: Now it’s a super plug.
Cheat Codes Artwork:
Danger Mouse and Black Thought Are at the Top of Their Game — No Cheat Codes Required
Jonah Krueger
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