The Mouse and the Mask

The album is composed almost entirely of raps by MF Doom, performed over beats created by Danger Mouse sampling music from various television shows airing on Cartoon Network's programming block Adult Swim. The album was heavily promoted by the network prior to its release.

"Sofa King" was released as a 12-inch single on November 4, 2005, and was followed by "Old School" on July 10, 2006. A video for "A.T.H.F." has also been made.

Comedian Dave Chappelle created an iTunes Celebrity Playlist and selected the Danger Doom track "Mince Meat" for his Block Party Picks. He stated, "Two very consistently good artists collaborate to make my head nod. DOOM, Mouse - Thank You. Wherever you are, nice album." MF Doom mentions Chappelle in the song "Peoples, Places, and Things" (called "Name Dropping" on his CD "Live from Planet X"). Doom says "Rap cats act brave as hell/Get on the mic and turn 'Gangsta!' on some 'yeah, see' like Dave Chappelle", in reference to a bit Chappelle performed in his stand up "Killin' Them Softly".

MF Doom disses MF Grimm in this album by referring to the Monsta Island Czars (aka M.I.C.) as 'Midgets Into Crunk' in the song "El Chupa Nibre" (on the paraphrased remix version the line is changed to 'Monkeys Into Crime'). Grimm responded by releasing an entire Doom diss track, titled "Book of Daniel" (which concludes his 2006 triple album American Hunger), in which he mainly accuses Doom of having sold out.

"Old School" features a mix of Keith Mansfield's song "Funky Fanfare," and "Space Ho's" sample Mansfield's "Morning Broadway."

The rap that Meatwad performs at the end of "Bada Bing" is a verse from "Beef Rapp", the first song on MF Doom's album MM..Food.

As of November 6, 2008 the album has sold 170,081 copies.[1]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Austin Chronicle	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[5]
The Guardian	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
Pitchfork	7.8/10[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Spin	B[10]
Uncut	[11]
The Village Voice	A−[12]

The Mouse and the Mask was well received by critics, scoring 81 out of 100 on the review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[2] Spin ranked it 25 on their "40 Best Albums Of 2005", and said that "together, these two dudes are more animated than the cartoon characters who pop up on this disc.".[13] Entertainment Weekly gave it an A−, calling it a "hip-hop tour-de-farce".[5] Magnet said "wading deep into hip hop's rich history, they deliver a record that conjures the classics without sounding willfully retro". The Wire called it "[a] frenetic comedy both above and of a kind with its fratboy origins, admirably absurdist in some respects and coolly demented in others" and Vibe similarly said "[a] headphone-friendly soundtrack...[of] deliciously demented narratives." Mojo gave it 3 out of 5 stars, noting "the stoned, late-night hilarity is grounded by some deft soundtrack-funk production from Dangermouse..."[14]

Notes:

• All songs produced by Danger Mouse
• All songs written by Daniel Dumile and Brian Burton except:
  • "The Mask" by Daniel Dumile, Dennis Coles and Brian Burton
  • "Benzi Box" by Daniel Dumile, Brian Burton and Thomas DeCarlo Callaway
  • "Old School" by Daniel Dumile, Brian Burton and Talib Kweli Greene

• Mark Linkous – bass guitar (track 3)
• Money Mark – keyboards (track 9)
• Jason DeMarco – executive producer
• Michael Schmelling – photography
• Virginia Consea – photography
• George Ella Rose – artwork
• Jacob Escobedo – artwork
• Gene Grimaldi – mastering