Album of the Month: Cheat Codes - Danger Mouse and Black Thought
A who’s-who of hip hop old and new, Cheat Codes is simply packed with smooth beats, killer lines, and dead cold features. Delicate keyboard and string samples on “Aquamarine” contrasted with Black Thought’s savage flow and textured voice, paired with the slick neo-soul of Michael Kiwanuka. “Belize”s shimmering keys and looming horns, preluding what is possibly MF DOOM’s last major feature, despite this record releasing two years after his death.
Danger Mouse deserves all the credit in the world for the absolutely bangin’ tracks he produced on this. Even if some of the features could do more, if BT’s raps aren’t all they could’ve been, DM went off with the production on this album. His use of non-musical samples, especially in “Identical Deaths”, do so much for the album’s immaculate atmosphere and depth. Danger Mouse makes beats that speak to me, groovy and rhythmic with enough bits interspersed, interrupting the groove enough to make it interesting without derailing it. The nocturnal “Violas & Lupitas”, the perfectly cinematic “Strangers” with RTJ and A$AP Rocky, these beats belong in a museum.
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