Danger Mouse and Black Thought – Cheat Codes Review

Soulfully charged and wah guitar course through the opening of Cheat Codes, a piece that sees Danger Mouse and Black Thought collaborate. Jazz rap never sounded so good. Sampling and effective tonal structures throughout this collaborative piece are reliant on the frameworks of great innovation. Packed with substance and articulate, satisfying lyrics, there is a whirlwind blend that depends more on the cohesion that comes from collaboration than anything else. Littered with features, Cheat Codes brings about the very best of hip-hop articulation but feels much slower than the range of ambient styles found in the genre so far. Bolstered by emotive structures more than anything, the tremendous understanding of tone is the best aspect of all.

Cheat Codes has no trouble in not just depending on that but in engaging with its jazz-fusion style frequently. The Darkest Part makes note of Thelonious Monk, both lyrically and artistically, his silhouette shadowing those keystrokes that underline a Raekwon-led track. Backing vocals from Kid Sister provide a great layer too, a break for Raekwon and a move to focus on the sincerity in the lyrics. They are pulpy and pop-culture driven, from the Harry Potter reference in the opening track Sometimes or the praise for those that inspired their art. It is a tremendous and engaging blend.

There is cohesion too in the supplements of recognisable intros and hooks. They feel homely and welcoming as they build, rise and fall into new and uncharted territories. No Gold Teeth strikes through as a beautifully arranged piece that sees a protagonist brag of being ahead of the curve and his classmates. With the late MF Doom featuring on Belize, it is hard not to feel a tinge of shock, not just for the frequency of high talent featured on Cheat Codes, but for the underlying quality that flows through it with expert precision. Collaboration is key to the best tracks of this album, bar the masterful No Gold Teeth. A brief flutter with what might as well be an intermission on Identical Deaths opens up to that grand form once more. Strangers boasts a phenomenal collaboration between Danger Mouse, Black Thought, A$AP Rocky and Run the Jewels. What a lineup.

Ultimately then, Cheat Codes is a collective album. It is a notable achievement not just for the constant collaborations but the consistent quality of them. A strict form and cohesive structure followed up with track after track, solidarity between songs that comes not just from the lyrics but in the typically charted constants of its instrumentals. Production collides with lyrical superiority, and the outcome is an emotive, charged piece that demonstrates the strength of the genre. It is a welcoming album, too, even with its harsh and gritty lyricisms. Instead, this is an entry point to the great trials and tribulations of the genre, charted best of all by tracks like Strangers and Violas and Lupitas. Intensity bleeds off of those tracks, as passionate a project Cheat Codes is, its reliance on collaboration is sincere and pulled off correctly. Take note, Gorillaz.