The Mouse and the Mask

The Mouse and the Mask
The Mouse and the Mask
Studio album by Danger Doom
Released	October 10, 2005
Recorded	2003–2005
Genre	Underground hip hop
Length	39:51
Label	Lex; Epitaph; Metalface Records;
Producer	Danger Mouse
Danger Doom chronology
MF Doom chronology
Danger Mouse chronology
Alternative cover
	European cover
Singles from The Mouse and the Mask
	"Sofa King"; Released: October 25, 2005; "Old School"; Released: July 10, 2006 (UK Only);

The Mouse and the Mask is the only studio album by Danger Doom, a collaboration between the hip hop artists Danger Mouse and MF Doom. It was released in Europe on October 10, 2005, and on October 11, 2005 by the independent punk label Epitaph Records in the United States. It was also released by Lex Records in the UK on October 17, 2005, with different cover art.

Concept and history

The album is composed almost entirely of raps by MF Doom, performed over beats created by Danger Mouse sampling music from various television shows airing on Cartoon Network's programming block Adult Swim. The album was heavily promoted by the network prior to its release.

"Sofa King" was released as a 12-inch single on November 4, 2005, and was followed by "Old School" on July 10, 2006. A video for "A.T.H.F." has also been made.

Comedian Dave Chappelle created an iTunes Celebrity Playlist and selected the Danger Doom track "Mince Meat" for his Block Party Picks. He stated, "Two very consistently good artists collaborate to make my head nod. DOOM, Mouse - Thank You. Wherever you are, nice album." MF Doom mentions Chappelle in the song "Peoples, Places, and Things" (called "Name Dropping" on his CD "Live from Planet X"). Doom says "Rap cats act brave as hell/Get on the mic and turn 'Gangsta!' on some 'yeah, see' like Dave Chappelle", in reference to a bit Chappelle performed in his stand up "Killin' Them Softly".

MF Doom disses MF Grimm in this album by referring to the Monsta Island Czars (aka M.I.C.) as 'Midgets Into Crunk' in the song "El Chupa Nibre" (on the paraphrased remix version the line is changed to 'Monkeys Into Crime'). Grimm responded by releasing an entire Doom diss track, titled "Book of Daniel" (which concludes his 2006 triple album American Hunger), in which he mainly accuses Doom of having sold out.

"Old School" features a mix of Keith Mansfield's song "Funky Fanfare," and "Space Ho's" sample Mansfield's "Morning Broadway."

The rap that Meatwad performs at the end of "Bada Bing" is a verse from "Beef Rapp", the first song on MF Doom's album MM..Food.

As of November 6, 2008 the album has sold 170,081 copies.^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100^[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
The Austin Chronicle	^[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[5]
The Guardian	^[6]
Los Angeles Times	^[7]
Pitchfork	7.8/10^[8]
Rolling Stone	^[9]
Spin	B^[10]
Uncut	^[11]
The Village Voice	A−^[12]

The Mouse and the Mask was met with overwhelming favourable reviews from critics, scoring 81 out of 100 on the review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".^[2] Spin ranked it 25 on their "40 Best Albums Of 2005", and said that "together, these two dudes are more animated than the cartoon characters who pop up on this disc.".^[13] Entertainment Weekly gave it an A−, calling it a "hip-hop tour-de-farce".^[5] Magnet said "wading deep into hip hop's rich history, they deliver a record that conjures the classics without sounding willfully retro". The Wire called it "[a] frenetic comedy both above and of a kind with its fratboy origins, admirably absurdist in some respects and coolly demented in others" and Vibe similarly said "[a] headphone-friendly soundtrack...[of] deliciously demented narratives." Mojo gave it 3 out of 5 stars, noting "the stoned, late-night hilarity is grounded by some deft soundtrack-funk production from Dangermouse..."^[14]

Track listing

Notes:

All songs produced by Danger Mouse
All songs written by Daniel Dumile and Brian Burton except:
- "The Mask" by Daniel Dumile, Dennis Coles and Brian Burton
- "Benzi Box" by Daniel Dumile, Brian Burton and Thomas DeCarlo Callaway
- "Old School" by Daniel Dumile, Brian Burton and Talib Kweli Greene

No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"El Chupa Nibre"	MF Doom, Master Shake	2:40
2.	"Sofa King"	MF Doom, Aqua Teen Hunger Force	2:57
3.	"The Mask"	MF Doom, Ghostface Killah, Brak and Zorak	3:12
4.	"Perfect Hair"	MF Doom, Master Shake	2:03
5.	"Benzie Box"	MF Doom, Cee Lo Green	3:00
6.	"Old School"	MF Doom, Talib Kweli, Aqua Teen Hunger Force	2:40
7.	"A.T.H.F."	MF Doom, Aqua Teen Hunger Force	3:03
8.	"Basket Case"	MF Doom, the cast of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law	2:35
9.	"No Names"	MF Doom, the cast of Sealab 2021	3:07
10.	"Crosshairs"	MF Doom, Brak, Thundercleese	2:27
11.	"Mince Meat"	MF Doom	2:33
12.	"Vats of Urine"	MF Doom, Mooninites	1:48
13.	"Space Ho's"	MF Doom, Space Ghost	3:29
14.	"Bada Bing"	MF Doom, Aqua Teen Hunger Force	4:35

Release details

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	October 11, 2005	Epitaph Records	CD	86775
United States	October 11, 2005	Epitaph Records	LP	86775
United Kingdom	October 17, 2005	Lex Records	CD	LEX036CD
United Kingdom	October 17, 2005	Lex Records	LP	LEX036LP