MF Doom is back with another album, this time teaming up with producer DangerMouse, and creating the clever alias DangerDoom, and the album title : The Mouse & The Mask. Doom seems to have taken a partnership with AdultSwim, and the album is themed around many of the shows featured on AdultSwim.

The Mouse & The Mask starts off with solid rhyming, after a short "AdultSwim Presents..." plug. One downside that can be viewed right away is the censoring of Doom for the first time. Nonetheless, the album starts off strong, with Doom wasting no time with hiphop pleasantries. Both "El Chupa Nibre" and "Sofa King" have dynamite beats with Doom's well known off the top of the head rhyming. "The Mask" brings in Ghostface Killah and throws down a hot beat for another good track. The album continues in the positive direction stopping at tracks 5 and 6, to hit the highpoint of the album. "Benzi-box" combines a slick beat (heavy on the bass) with a nice chorus and more solid rhyming from Doom. "Old School" puts Doom up with none other than Talib Kweli, who proves he's up for rhyming along side Doom, in a two verse song that brings backs memories of both profound artists.

FRight after "Old School", listeners get a sharp turn to the Adultswim side of The Mouse & The Mask. "A.T.H.F" is a track about the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force, sampling several of the main characters from the show, who appear randomly on tracks in this album, usually in a humorous way. The song maintains has a light air to it, although those who don't indulge in the hilarious shows of AdultSwim might find themselves confused. Basket Case is yet another AdultSwim show, "Harvey Birdman : Attorney at Law". Again sampling more voices, Doom manages to balance out the show's voices with his own vocals to make another great track with yet another smooth DangerMouse track.

The album takes an interesting turn here, where both Doom and DangerMouse become more experimental. The beats take a noticeable change to more "softcore" hip-hop, and Doom switches up the flows and theme of each track to make it work. DangerDoom shows off his consistency here, a major problem that he had on previous albums. The second-to-last track, "Space Hos" is yet another Doom classic, going back to the previous style of beats and a clever combination of the AdultSwim talk show cartoon "Space Ghost". Doom kicks Space Ghost off his own radio station and decides to become DJ. George Lowe comments on Doom to give the track its seal of authentency.

One change of direction Doom takes on this album is seen in the missing "Fanastic 4" skits, something he has yet to neglect in almost every previous album. The Mouse & The Mask is a great addition to Doom's portfolio, and the consistency he demonstrates proves he is ready to be crowned king of the underground. Doom is able to step it up on tracks with talented other artists, and makes sure that he is able to show off lyricism on every track. The production from DangerMouse is nothing short of spectacular, and his beats help to bring this album to the top of the underground. Minor flaws, and some of the experimentation keep The Mouse & The Mask from being a classic, but it comes very close.

Written By: m.jizzLe