The collaboration with Gnarls Barkley didn’t just put Danger Mouse, also known as Brian Burton, on the British charts for the first time; it also marked his successful debut as a hit record producer. Danger Mouse initially caught the attention of discerning music enthusiasts with his creation of The Grey Album, a bootleg project that blended the vocals from Jay-Z’s The Black Album with music samples from the Beatles’ The White Album. Despite facing a cease-and-desist order from the label, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz recognized Burton’s talent and engaged him to produce beats for Gorillaz’s album, Demon Days.
Within a year, Danger Mouse returned to the music scene with another collaborative endeavor, Gnarls Barkley, partnering with the talented singer Cee-Lo Green. The duo, who had been acquainted since the late ’90s in Atlanta, began recording together during the release of Danger Mouse’s Ghetto Pop Life in 2003. Their leaked track, ‘Crazy,’ gained immense popularity through digital distribution, making it the first single to top the UK charts by online downloads. Their album, St. Elsewhere, swiftly followed suit, claiming the number one spot on the album charts. Soon after, their next project, The Odd Couple, was released in early 2008.