There always seems to be a producer of the moment, a man that has a vague omnipresence in mainstream music. Late last year, it was Mark Ronson who usurped Timbaland, took the crown from Kanye and followed in Pharrell's footsteps. Now, that producer is Danger Mouse, the mastermind behind some of the most experimental music to hit the top-10 in recent years.Danger Mouse, born Brian Burton, became an overnight sensation in 2004 with the release of The Grey Album, on which he mixed Jay-Z's vocals on The Black Album with beats crafted out of The Beatles' White Album. The concept was so ingenious that it didn't matter that the music was only decent, and massive acclaim followed its release. Entertainment Weekly named it record of the year and GQ included him on their "Men of the Year" list. With this buzz around him, Damon Albarn (the man behind the cartoons) of the Gorillaz enlisted Burton to produce their sophomore album Demon Days, featuring Danger's first left-field hit with "Feel Good Inc."
His second surprise smash was "Crazy," the inescapable 2006 jam by Gnarls Barkley, a duo in which he composed the beats and singer/rapper Cee-Lo handled the mic duties. With the success of this single, the previously anonymous producer fully integrated himself into mainstream consciousness.