These bad-ass niggaz don’t half swear a lot. That’s what an alien would most likely say in reposte to the new album from Danger Mouse and Jemini. But then aliens would. Aliens are cool. Aliens don’t give a shit about paying lip service to the customary bad-mouth parlances of those customary bad-ass niggaz. Aliens care only about one thing: finding a nice pair of brogues and a nice quiet place to slip them on. And perhaps if folks like Jemini were similarly indifferent to the studied posturing of gangsta youth and all its desperate appeals to machismo, his lyrical weight would balance the Mouse’s worth as a cutting-edge producer. Unfortunately though, even though we are living a post Original Pirate Material universe and upon the cusp of A Grand Don’t Come For Free one, we’re still – yes STILL – busting rhymes on ‘hookin’ chicks’, ‘pimpin’’ and a putting a ‘bullet in the clip’. Truth is; folks like Jemini don’t have the muscle to offer anything by way of an alternative or escape the idle mythology that they and their bad-ass brothers seem sadly dependent upon. And in this context, it seems entirely appropriate for Danger Mouse to be composing music for the Star Wars themed, ‘Clone Wars’. Whilst rappers like The Streets’ Mike Skinner are breathing new life into hip-hop, drone rappers like Jemini are letting it perish.
Truth is though, if it wasn’t for the subtle as a brick emceeing, Ghetto Pop Life could quite easily have matched Danger Mouse’s success on the now infamous ‘Grey Album’ (a hugely experimental affair crossing Jay Z’s Black Album and the Beatles’ White Album). Full church choirs, bare-knuckle beats and some really tasty licks provide layer upon layer of shrewd, intelligent hip-hop. Many will find it of no real surprise to learn that Danger Mouse was raised in Athens, Georgia, home of REM and The B-52’s and became more than a little acquainted with members of the Elephant Six collective. And his exposure to all this is well documented on the album I now hold in my hands, as the disc is peppered with leftfield indie phrases, old score samples, chunky melodic basslines, lanky surf-guitars, 30s swing, gothic piano and a knack for providing only the prettiest and memorable of counter-melodies, whether it’s the heavenly baroque of title track ‘Ghetto Pop Life’, the chirping motown backing of ‘The Only One’, the cooing Hawaiian indie sample on ‘Take Care Of Business’ or the simple, sultry ‘ooh, oohs’ on stand-out track ‘That Brooklyn Shit’ (prologued by the amusing “My Mamma once told me that a man would fuck a snake if you hold its head” anecdote).
Currently in the studio producing albums and tracks for Prince Po, MF Doom and Tha Alkaholiks and enjoying the satisfied notoriety of someone who’s capped well over 1,000,000 downloads and ruffled EMI in the process, Danger Mouse proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he really is one of the most fertile imaginations in production today. ‘Ghetto Pop Life’ is literally teeming with ideas and originality and a credit to Lex and Warp Record regardless of the often fatuous delivery of the less than gifted one, Jemini.
In fact, if you really want to appreciate what the D Mouse is capable of achieving with the right sparring partner, look no further than track 12 – ‘Medieval’ – starring The Pharcyde. It really is that obvious.