2022 has been a year, in the world of hip hop, dominated by incredible MC and producer collaborations. As I used to mention often in this column, some of the strongest music to come out of this genre is when a rapper focuses in with one great producer to build a cohesive, inspired product.
This time, the discussion circles around the legendary Black Thought. This mystical wordsmith is of the barrier-breaking hip hop band “The Roots” (Jimmy Fallon’s nightly show band, for those unfamiliar). Black Thought has taken his status and elevated it into a solo career that has been full of mind-bending rhymes layered over some of the best production this modern genre has to offer.
It was announced earlier this year that Thought would be teaming up with the highly respected Danger Mouse to unleash a full length album. Danger Mouse has notably produced an entire album for the late and great MF DOOM, as well as the classic 2005 Gorillaz release “Demon Days.” On paper, you have two huge talents formed together to create an unstoppable tour-de-force of a record, and that is just about how it plays out as well.
Here we have “Cheat Codes,” all beats provided by Danger Mouse, raps by Black Thought. Thought uses the signature lush and atmospheric production that Mouse is known for to flex his endless bag of flows, entendres, and burning references to historical and cultural events that all morph together to a fantastic hip hop record.
The third track on this release. “The Darkest Part” with Raekwon, is a triumph of two hip hop legends sharing the space on the beat, and the inspiration is clear cut and tangible. Black Thought sounds as hungry as he did fifteen years ago and the Raekwon verse is guaranteed to hit for any hip hop fan.
The soundscapes crafted by Danger Mouse on this album sometimes arrive piercing with urgency. For example, on the title track, Thought lays down his verses with a sense of aggression. At other moments, Danger Mouse builds a laid back jazzy atmosphere, full of warbled fragments of vocal samples and instrumentation, and where Thought sits back and effortlessly flows through the peaks and valleys of the beat.
There is quite a bit to be admired within Black Thought’s lyrical content and, if you so desire, you could unpack and decode verses of this album for weeks on end before you caught every reference, entendre, and seemingly innocent flow switch. Some verses to look out for when you spin this album for the first time are on “Belize,” featuring the great MF DOOM, the entirety of the song “Aquamarine” and the emotional closing track “Violas and Lupitas.”
This is easily Black Thought’s best, most focused solo offering yet, and if you haven’t heard his work with The Roots, you have a ton of great music to dive into these next few weeks. This is a satisfying hip hop project that never misses a step across its 12 song tracklist. It is neat, concise and thought provoking. I highly recommend it to all lovers of classic hip hop excellency.
Other Albums to Check Out This Week:
– Roc Marciano & The Alchemist – “The Elephant Man’s Bones”
– Zoomo – “Cloyd”
– Kenny Beats – “Louie”
– Eyedress – “Full Time Lover”
