Ty Listens to "Cheat Codes"

I've been in a bit of a personal music rut lately. The only new album that I have been super into is the new Kendrick Lamar. I have been going back to old classics a lot more lately. I feel like, as I get older, newer music just doesn't appeal to me. I feel like I have reached that age where new music sounds different and bad to me. There are some new artists I like, but the stuff my kids listen to, I am not a fan of. But I do have a buddy that lets me know when there is new music from artists I used to listen to all the time is coming out. One such record is "Cheat Codes" by Danger Mouse and Black Thought.

I adore Danger Mouse. Next to Rick Rubin he is the best producer in the game in my opinion. He works with so many different artists and each time a record comes out that he has produced and worked on, I love it. The work he did with Norah Jones is amazing. It is my favorite Norah Jones record. The stuff he did with The Black Keys is great. His work as one half of Gnarls Barkley is timeless. The stuff he did on his own, taking "The Black Album" and "The White Album" and making it work was a true bit of magic.

Black Thought is one of the best emcees to ever do it. The Roots are an all time hip hop group. Part of that is due to the way he rhymes and writes. I feel like Black Thought is a tad underrated which is nuts because he has been doing this at such a high level for a very long time. Black Thought is a true genius and everything he touches seems to work. So put the two of them together on a record, it is bound to work. And boy oh boy does it work.

As I said, I was late to listen, but I feel like I haven't stopped since my buddy brought it to my attention. I listened to the album three times just yesterday and was nodding along each time like it was the first listen. This album works on every level. The production is incredible, as one would expect when seeing Danger Mouse as the producer. The beats are clean, the way it is composed is pure hip hop, the songs mesh so well and the record runs like a well oiled machine. Then you put Black Thought on there as the main rapper, beautiful. His voice is so unique and pure. He sounds like an old head in the new age. He cruises through each song and takes over on some tracks. He is a genius. Then you add on the guest list and that takes this album from great to classic. This is the last record to feature MF Doom, that I know of to this point. It was so nice to hear his voice on an album nearly two years after he passed away. There is a song that features ASAP Rocky and Run the Jewels. That feels like they put this on the record specifically for me. It is my favorite song. Michael Kiwanuka, who is by no means a rapper, shows up and brings a different sound to his song. Raekwon is on a track. I love hearing from him. He seems to be everywhere lately. It also helps that I just saw Wu Tang Clan live and he was there. This record works on every level. It is near perfection. It is one of my favorite albums to come out in the last decade. I knew I was going to dig it, I just did not think it would become this big in my rotation.

While I have my doubts about the current state of music, while I am getting older and what's new is hip and I don't get it, it is nice to have something like this. I love hearing artists I have been following for more than a decade still doing their thing and doing it phenomenally. "Cheat Codes" is rad. Seek this album out for sure. It is definitely worth your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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