Additional Thoughts on “Cheat Codes” by Danger Mouse and Black Thought



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38 thoughts on “Additional Thoughts on “Cheat Codes” by Danger Mouse and Black Thought”

  1. It's unfortunate… and kindah ironic. In the video you posted where you talked about "Gangsta-rap-fatique" and the fact that you now care for HipHop and such whilest reviewing the Asap Rocky joint . I mentioned that it would be a great time for some Ka. His album just dropped and i thought he might give you some hope and perspective… that there are still some great hidden gems out there that the masses don't get to see and hear. You chose to go woth Cheat Codes and that's obviously a great choice… but now this happened and i hear you talking about the passing of Ka in the Cheat Codes review… I'm not on twitter and I'm not from the States. That's why i said it is ironic… to hear this from you, a rookie (wich i love seeing explore this great love of mine), whilest i consider myself a veteran in the HipHop culture.

    Rest in power to Ka… i am truly sad. In honor of your passing i will play my playlist of your music all day and ill remember and appreciate the emotions and thoughts you gave me trough your art for a long time to come.

    And to you Bob, my rookie Youtube/Patreon friend… keep searching for those hidden gems. It's worth the effort. Gr. from Amsterdam ✌🏻

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  2. Rest in peace to my very favourite rapper of all time. He said it best himself on Finer Things/Tamahagene:
    "What I weep is too deep to chart domestic
    It's fantastic handcrafted artisan brew
    Was casted and mastered for a marvelous few."

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  3. Its honestly so sad that an artist, or any semi-popular figure who is great at whatever they do has to pass away before people give them their flowers. It’s even worse that Blu & Exile have an album titled “Give me my flowers while I can still smell them”, and yet only if Blu happens to untimely pass away will he finally get his overdue praise (also please react to “Below the Heavens”, killer album).

    Anyways Rest In Peace KA. Im glad to be part of the 50,000 people who were streaming his new project. I was itching for it to come to streaming when it first released in August.

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  4. RIP Ka. He never wasted a word. Bob, I've enjoyed watching your growth as a music listener since 2021 but I gotta commend you for sticking with your journey through hiphop. Like you said, as life consumes our focus it can feel all too easy to fall into the habitual music of our youth and possibly ignore new experiences. I wouldn't want to unfairly label your generation, but I can't think of anyone your age who has stepped out of their comfort zone musically this much AND actively engaged with the themes presented, you're definitely a rarity man. I'm 23 atm, and even though I'm still exploring genres I feel it happening to me, where I've kinda resigned into the same rap and electronic artists cause it's more comfortable than sifting through the 1000s of hours of music released. Even though they get alot of flak, I feel like music critics have a super valuable role to play for navigating the genres and recommending/preserving the best of the best or notable experiments to people after everything is said and done. I'm not old enough to have remembered music forums and blogs at their peak, but it does kind of suck that Anthony Fantano might be the only way for someone to find an insanely talented artist or innovative project in the modern age. Guess we gotta keep searching ourselves, the music we find will be worth it!

    Listened to Cheat Codes recently, it's still a masterclass between two phenomenal veterans of their crafts, but to your question on when something becomes a classic, I think people will probably give it proper flowers when everyone recounts their favorite albums of the 2020s in a few years. (Aquamarine was on the FIFA 23 soundtrack tho!) In the meantime, any album/artist that doesn't have a marketing team or viral meme behind it will have to rely on word of mouth and recommendation from respected figures on the internet to gain more fans, which honestly might be a good thing. Who knows though, this world makes no sense sometimes. Take care of yourself, anyone reading this.

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  5. RIP KA. You should listen to his work, in honor of him.

    This reminded me to ask you listen to People Under The Stairs. RIP Double K. Not related to Ka's death, but a group that made great music and stayed happily underground, but the death of Double K hit me hard.

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  6. wtf, i've just been getting into Ka. knew him for a long while, and listened to 90% of his albums, but i knew i wasn't ready for them since i miss a lot of his lyricism, im finally getting back into him, following his words (without genius) and breaking it down myself, and he died, wtf. i'm a bit drunk rn too, so im extra mad at this, wtf, this shit sucks to hear. definitely going to hear his art now, definitely long overdue.

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  7. The reason I know cheat codes is top tier is because for 2 years I have consistently come back to this album and every time it completely scratches that itch and reminds me why I have loved hip hop for 25 plus years.not many albums can do that.

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  8. oh you'll never plateau with music lol at a certain point we just stop looking for more
    Also, if you wanna get into more black thought's solo stuff, streams of thought vol. 1 is only 5 songs long if you wanna test the waters. all his solo albums are consistently amazing.

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  9. The reason this album and others like it doesn’t get more mainstream popularity is because it’s grown man rap. It takes a listener of a certain interest , age, life experience, and appreciation to get it. It’s made for only those who get it

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  10. Waiting for Bob to listen to in my eyes the greatest hip-hop storytelling saga by a rapper that goes by the name of K-Rino. The saga consists of 11 different songs that when listened to in order make up one huge and unique story. K-Rino is in my eyes the greatest storytelling rapper of all time, if you listen to these songs you will be introduced to a whole new level of hip-hop in terms of lyrical ability and storytelling.

    1st song – Alien Baby

    2nd song – Annihilation Of The Evil Machine

    3rd song – The Sorcerer's Den

    4th song – Return Of The Sorcerer

    5th song – Identity Theft

    6th song – Planet Exile

    7th song – The Galactic Quest for the Mystic Ten Volumes

    8th song L-Dubb the Magnificent

    9th song – S.O.T.S.

    10th song – Wizard's Ransom

    11th song – Wizard's Ransom 2 (The Final Battle)

    If you do listen to these songs I hardly doubt that you will understand the whole story by the first listen but IF YOU DO, it's so worth it. Love you Bob 🙏

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  11. hey Bob! i think you should totally listen to devon hendryxs album JOECHILLWORLD this is actually JPEGMAFIA before he switch artist name and it is a very interesting masterpiece of an album and think you would love it so you should totally give it a listen! have a good one Bob!

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  12. Just watched the video in which you reacted to "17" by XXXTENTACION. Can't help but commend you for the inclusivity in the song "Carry On". This album came out not long after I had a TBI and Carry On was one of the songs that really helped me through all of the turmoil of TBI and I'd just like to thank you for including everyone in your video. Hope you have a good day. (You've earned a sub)

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