Cheat Codes

The cover of Cheat Codes was made by Jacob Escobedo, with layout by Samantha Meadows. Escobedo is an Atlanta artist and designer who spent years as head of design for the creative group behind Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, and whose illustrations have run in The New Yorker. He is also one of Danger Mouse's longest visual partners.

The two met around 2004, and Escobedo designed the cover for DangerDoom's The Mouse and the Mask, Danger Mouse's 2005 album with MF DOOM made in partnership with Adult Swim. He went on to work on at least five albums with the producer, including records by Broken Bells, and has also made artwork for The Shins and Vampire Weekend. That history gives Cheat Codes a quiet continuity. The album itself grew from a collaboration with Black Thought first planned around 2005, and it includes a posthumous verse from MF DOOM on "Belize". Hiring the designer of the DangerDoom cover for this record links the two projects visually as well as musically, and keeps Danger Mouse's records within a small circle of trusted collaborators.

BMG released the album on vinyl in black and a limited red edition, each with a printed inner sleeve. Critics treated Cheat Codes as a late-career peak for Black Thought, a high watermark for both men. It was released on 12 August 2022.