Danger Mouse is a famous American musician, songwriter and record producer. Widely known as a versatile artist who skillfully combines several genres at once.
So, for example, in one of his albums "The Gray Album" he was able to simultaneously use the vocal parts of the rapper Jay-Z with rap beats based on the melodies of The Beatles. The effect was amazing and quickly brought the musician wide popularity. After that, he continued to actively experiment with styles.
The early work of the musician Danger Mouse
The performer was born July 29, 1977 in New York. Until his university days, he constantly lived in different states and localities. In the state of Georgia, Brian Burton (real name of the musician) received a higher education, which was associated with television and radio communications.
In his student days, the young man actively studied music of various genres. In parallel, he himself experimented and mixed different styles, creating his own collections of remixes.
So, in the period from 1999 to 2002, 3 trip-hop discs were released (a genre of electronic music, which is characterized by very slow and atmospheric arrangements).
The young musician did not stop there and continued to create melodies based on the music of legendary bands. Among them are Nirvana, Pink Floyd and many other rock legends. Around the same age, Brian was invited as a DJ to one of the local radio stations. There the young man continued to develop his skills and learn a lot of new music.
Then the first performances began. By the way, the pseudonym of the musician appeared for a reason. Danger Mouse was rather shy, so he did not want to show his face to the audience during performances.
The solution was simple - to change into a mouse costume and borrow the appropriate pseudonym from the series of the same name.
On the way to success
Interestingly, Trey Reems became the first manager of the musician. He was promoting Cee-lo Green concerts at that time. Thanks to this, the latter even appeared on one of the tracks from the album "Danger Mouse and Jemini". The work on the composition subsequently led to the joint work on the Gnarls Barkley project, a successful duet of two musicians that thundered in the middle of the XNUMXs.
The success of solo work came to the musician at the time of the release of the album "The Gray Album", despite the many releases released earlier. It is worth noting that the early records also had some success, but so far there has been no talk of any full-fledged recognition.
However, "The Gray Album" radically changed the situation. Acapella Jay-Z and arrangements in the spirit of The Beatles - a real symbiosis for a successful release (as it turned out). It is interesting that initially the musician did not plan to release this disc. It was conceived as a mix made for friends and close acquaintances. As a result, it was this disc that provided the musician with the recognition of the masses.
Danger Mouse's Rise of Popularity
After that, proposals rained down on Danger Mouse one after another. In particular, the young musician became one of the main musical producers of the album of the legendary Gorillaz. "Demon Days" received numerous music awards and was well received by critics.
Until 2006, Brian continued to work on releases by other musicians. The collaboration with MF Doom turned out to be fruitful, with which a joint work was released, which received wide recognition among hip-hop fans.
This year the collaboration with Cee-lo Green turned into a joint release. Duo Gnarls Barkley released the disc "St. Elsewhere", which became a hit all over the world. It was a real breakthrough and a fresh breath of soul. The bright voice and charisma of the vocalist, combined with Brian's unique arrangements, captivated melodic music lovers in the USA, Europe and Asian countries.
Songs for a long time did not leave the charts. I must say that the popularity of the group many times exceeded the popularity of each of the musicians individually. Therefore, of course, such cooperation turned out to be fruitful. After the release of the disc, the musicians were invited to perform as the opening act for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which allowed them to gain new fans.
Danger Mouse activity today
Danger Mouse occupies a very interesting position in US show business. Not being a pronounced representative of the mainstream scene, he, at the same time, remains in the public eye and releases high-profile releases. Most often as a music producer on albums by other artists.
Since 2010, Brian has been devoting more time to solo work. He regularly releases albums, in which he invites many famous singers (Jack White, Norah Jones and others) to the main vocal parts.
After 5 years, the musician founded his own music label, which he called 30th Century Records. One of the last major releases recorded with the participation of the musician was the 11th album of the Red Hot Chili Peppers "The Getaway". Danger Mouse produced almost all the songs from the album - from the idea to the music.
Today, Brian continues to help artists create albums. He has over 30 solo albums to his credit. In addition, there are rumors about the imminent recording of a new release for the duo Gnarls Barkley.
