Danger Doom Party: Sink or Swim?

It’s 8:30 p.m. last Thursday night, and people are ready to party. At least they might be; it’s hard to tell, actually. John Harvard’s is mostly filled with a fairly standard-looking crowd. The only visible difference is the contingent of confused hip-hop fans milling about aimlessly.

The event for which people may or may not have been turning out in droves is a listening party for “The Mouse and The Mask,” a collaboration between celebrated hip-hop artists MF Doom and Danger Mouse (known collectively as Dangerdoom); and, oddly enough, the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programs (see review on page B7). Featuring such guests as Ghostface Killah (of Wu-Tang Clan fame) and Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, the album is unusual to say the least, but unusual in an undeniably entertaining way.

The party is being put on by Adult Swim, and more specifically their college representatives from Harvard, Ross E. Arbes ’08 and Robert I. Padnick ’09. With DJ Shiftee (Samuel M. Zornow ’08) playing a set comprised mostly of a combination of the new album and MF Doom’s earlier work, with some M.I.A. and Kanye West thrown in for good measure, and Adult Swim clips playing on John Harvard’s many TV’s, there is no lack of sensory stimulation.

What is lacking is a clear sense of the event’s purpose or scope. People who came specifically for the party seem nonplussed. With no clear idea of where the center of the event is, they opt for either standing in tight groups or heading for the bar.

I choose the latter and pin down one of the Adult Swim reps. After allowing myself to get plied with goodies (Dangerdoom and Adult Swim posters and stickers), I learn that the reason for the unusual venue is a question of status. Ross and Robert can’t hold events on campus, since they’re not an official Harvard organization.

They’re hoping to rectify that, however, in the near future. As Ross says, “Our goal is to have a little front, like the Mafia”—an Adult Swim club through which the duo can further their goal of building up the brand in the Harvard community.

Whether they’re successful or not, Harvard can look forward to several more Adult Swim-sponsored events in the coming months. If this listening party is any indication, they will feature free posters and a vague air of bewilderment and end somewhat earlier than anticipated. Such tightly-focused marketing never seemed so benign.