Cheat Codes by Danger Mouse and Black  Thought

To think this body of work between the Grammy award producer Danger Mouse and one of hip-hop's most skilful emcee of all time should have come out in 2006 under the name Dangerous Thoughts (a clever play on word) and never saw the light is beyond remarkable; in that time span, we have had the opportunity to hear seven different projects from Black Thought- with and without The Roots-.

XXL Magazine initially reported that Dangerous Thoughts was halfway completed all the way back 16 years ago, whilst Black Thought was also working with DJ Drama on a Gangsta Grillz tape, which also didn’t come out.

Black Thought's latest body of work came out in 2020 with Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able – which became his debut solo album- after having been in the game for over 30 years-

Dangerous Thoughts eventually turned into Cheat Codes and is finally seeing the light, after both artists worked on different projects since first initiating the collaboration, Danger Mouse has worked alongside MF DOOM to create Danger DOOM, worked with A$AP Rocky on the critically acclaimed At. Long. Last. ASAP and has also worked with countless artists outside of hip-hop.

Cheat Codes is made of 12 tracks, and includes guest stars such as Raekwon, Joey Bada$$, Russ, A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, Conway the Machine, the unmatched MF DOOM alongside the talented British songwriter Michael Kiwanuka who stands out on Aquamarine- one of the best songs off the album- Kid Sister and Dylan Cartlidge.

Kid Sister makes a very impressive appearance on The Darkest Part alongside Raekwon, the piano utilised on the track works perfectly with all the different vocals. The 12-tracks album is very versatile to say the least- tracks like Strangers featuring A$AP Rocky and Run The Jewels feel very out of place and the mixing of this particular song specifically feels rather bizarre.

But one thing is for certain, we cannot knock Danger Mouse's production here, some of the production such as Saltwater featuring Conway the Machine and Violas and Lupitas feel very unique and are ever so pleasant to hear throughout their compositions.

Dylan Cartlidge also stands out on Because featuring Joey Bada$$ and Russ as his voice just soothes the instrumental, allowing both Joey and Russ to deliver beautifully, in calmly manners.

Belize features the late MF DOOM, both Black Thought and MF DOOM's lyrical displays are well above par that it becomes almost ridiculous, there's not a lot you can do to criticise the work, especially over such incredible production by danger mouse.

All in all, these different fragments that compose the album almost makes you forget how insane Black Thought is, I remember vividly his freestyle on Hot 96 in 2017 which awakened many who forgot about him, but one thing is for certain, when it's all set and done, Black Thought should be in a lot of people's Top 5.

My personal top three includes: Aquamarine, The Darkest Part and Belize.