The Mouse in the Mask: A Review
By: Victor Olmedo
Viktor Vaughn, Metal Fingers, The Villain, Metal Face. The man in the mask went by many names, his most well known being MF DOOM. The late MF DOOM created many critically acclaimed albums in his time: Madvillinay which is widely considered his best, Vaudeville Villain made under his most popular alias, Viktor Vaughn, and Mm..Food, his most popular album to date. However, there is one album that does not get the love that it deserves.
The Mouse in the Mask was released in 2005 by MF DOOM and Danger Mouse under the project name of DANGERDOOM. This album was made in collaboration with the popular TV program, Adult Swim, which MF DOOM has a history of collaborating with. This led to an extremely interesting album with cameos of characters from shows that were airing on Adult Swim. There was even a song named directly after one of the shows.
This album is one of DOOM’s goofier ones having a lighthearted feel to it with hints of his iconic villainous persona in some tracks like “Sofa King,” where he spits “order a rapper for lunch then spit out the chain” showing a glimpse of his confrontational persona that also prompts him to say thing like “MF DOOM is your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.”
Even though there are some serious lines and songs in the album, it is mostly made up of comedic songs that reference Adult Swim shows like the song “A.T.H.F. (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)” where two out of the three main characters of the Adult Swim show Aqua Teen Hunger Force get to rap and the other main character, Master Shake, is heard leaving MF DOOM voicemails throughout the album begging to be included on the project.
Although many of the songs are fun and riddled with arguably too many references, plenty of the songs have an amazing balance of skits and great music. This album has some gems such as “Sofa King,” ”Benzi Box,” “The Mask,” and “Crosshairs” all with differing styles, but the same incredible flow and wordplay that DOOM is known for.
With the incredible production by Danger Mouse combined with DOOM’s frankly disgustingly good flow these songs are incredible. Combined with funny skits at the end of each song that are the perfect length, the peaks of this album are truly amazing.
Sadly, not every song can be good. One example of the lows of this album is “Bada Bing,” a song that has a strange beat, below average flow for DOOM, and a skit that is far too long. This song closing out the album is truly disheartening. No album can be perfect, of course, but that does not change that it is disappointing to have two or three songs dragging this album down when it could have been so much better if some skits were cut or some beats were more developed.
The Mouse and the Mask is an incredibly underrated album that is often looked over due to the relation to Adult Swim. The relation makes some think this album is just a cash grab collaboration but it still has that MF DOOM charm like his more popular albums.. This album is a solid listen that people should take time out of their day to check out and really appreciate.