Philadelphia rapper Black Thought stays in grind mode and with help from producer Danger Mouse, their new Cheat Codes album might be the ultimate win-win. The duo stepped up to chop things up with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe to dish on everything from the album’s conception to the writing process.

Black Thought and Danger Mouse talk to Apple Music 1 about Cheat Codes

The duo didn’t hold back in their interview. While it would be fun to transcribe every delivered word, how about pointing out those key moments? Salute to the Apple PR team for coming through on these tidbits.

Danger Mouse Tells Apple Music About The Impetus For The Collaboration…

When I first finished The Grey Album, I had some chances to maybe reach out to some people that maybe wouldn't have known who I was and Black Thought was my favorite rapper, so that was one of the first people I went to. We got in the studio, we messed around a little bit, but then we both got really busy. I didn't know I Gnarls Barkley. Tarik, I think you were doing what? You were doing lots of Root stuff. We were all really... It was just... It just got really kind of hectic. And so we just approached it, we came back to it a couple of times before we went in 2018 to really jump in and really make the album.

Black Thought Tells Apple Music What He Looks For in Collaborators Outside The Roots…

I think, initially, I look for someone who is not The Roots and is not trying to approximate what I do in The Roots, because that would defeat the purpose. I have an outlet for that energy and for the way I write and the way I perform in The Roots, I sort of have The Roots for that. There's 15 of us. You know? Yeah, if I'm going to work with a different producer, I look for someone who not only doesn't sound like The Roots, but someone who is comfortable in their own sound and is confident and cognizant of that.

Danger Mouse Tells Apple Music How They Choose Collaborators For The Album…

It was all really organic. Everybody that's on the album is somebody we knew or worked with before in some kind of way, but we didn't really add any of the rappers, and so our part was done at the end.

Black Thought Tells Apple Music a New Roots Album is “Well Underway”…

Ready to put a new album out. Yeah. A new Roots album is well underway. Could be done. Yeah. Could be. It's just not up to me. You know what I mean? It's not only up to me, so... A couple other people have to chime in. But yeah, we've got lots of stuff recorded for the Roots album.

Black Thought Tells Apple Music About Being Perceived As Underrated…

I think over the years I've definitely felt like, yeah. I mean, people, everyone says that. Everyone I meet, "You're so underrated. You're so underrated." Or in interviews, it's "How do you feel to be so underrated?" But yeah, I don't know. The people whose opinions matter to me have always properly rated me, so it's never really been a huge deal for me.

Black Thought Tells Apple Music About The Possibility of Bringing The Album To Live Audiences…

I think the desire, more than wanting to bring this record to a crowd, is to just continue to work together. I think whatever that looks like is what is just the way it's going to look. But yeah, there's no specific plan to do anything beyond continuing to do what we've done because it feels like it's working.

Black Thought Tells Apple Music About His Writing Process…

I'm constantly jotting down ideas, a bar here, a word here, and a random idiom. And then when it's time to write, I'm able to draw from that, pull from some of those notes. But that's only when I have to. When it's good, at its best, best case scenario, it works the way that this dynamic has in that what I write is just directly in response to the music.

Danger Mouse Tells Apple Music About The Song “No Gold Teeth”…

I'll tell you a funny thing with this song. The first time we had messed around the studio was 2005, I think, and then a couple more times scattered here and there. And then we lost touch, and a friend of mine… It happens sometimes. But a friend of mine from college, my close friend from college who both of our favorite rapper was Black Thought. And we shared that. That was a thing. And he hit me up one time, years back, and he said he saw some video of Black Thought performing without The Roots, performing on his own at a show. And it was just an audience video. And he said was doing some song he hadn't heard before. And he said, "This is what you should have been doing with Black Thought." So I listened to it. I listened to it and I listened. I watched the video and it was No Gold Teeth. He was doing... I'd given him the beat years ago. I never heard what he did… a different version though. The lyrics were a little different, but he's like, "This is what you should have been doing." And it was... Yeah, it was that, so I tried to get back in touch with him based on... I was like, "He's right. I should be doing that.” So then we wound up in the studio probably a year or two later, and starting on this album.