This has been a great year to be brown and Asian on the international underground. Mad Decent’s Popo, comprised of Pakistani brothers Zeb and Shoaib, have released a free EP of their brand of fuzzed out indie rock to great acclaim, their “Bummer Summer” possibly one of the best tracks in any genre of the year. Pakistani hardcore trio The Kominas represent a sound and lifestyle known as taqwacore, putting their Muslim politics front and center of a powerful punk and funk influenced sound, their free album
Escape to Blackout Beach converting fans by the second. But the brown Asians that everybody’s been waiting to hear more from are the oddest group to demand respect from hip hop in awhile, Das Racist, searching for respect after March’s
Shut Up, Dude mixtape with latest release
Sit Down, Man.
Das Racist are self described on their Myspace as the following:
DAS RACIST IS A WEED EDGE/HARE KRISHNA HARD CORE/ART RAP/FREAK FOLK MUSIC TRIO BASED IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, COMPRISED OF QUEENS-BORN HIMANSHU KUMAR SURI, SAN FRANCISCO-BORN VICTOR VAZQUEZ, AND QUEENS-BORN ASHOK KONDABOLU. SURI AND VAZQUEZ MET AT SARAH LAWRENCE BARD POMONA WESLEYAN ART COLLEGE IN MASSACHUSETTS, WHERE VICTOR WAS HIMANSHU’S RESIDENT ADVISOR IN A “STUDENTS OF COLOR FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE” THEMED FRESHMAN YEAR DORMITORY. THE DUO LATER ADDED KONDABOLU AS A HYPE MAN AND SPIRITUAL ADVISOR.
Clearly, the group hit the underground radar before hipster culture died, but lucky for them that they take being rappin’ ass rappers really seriously, and are slowly developing the skills to pay the bills. If you listen to Sit Down, Man and think that a) Das Racist need that Roc Nation deal immediately, or B) that this entire mixtape is good, then, amazingly enough, you’re completely off base, and you know next to nothing about hip hop. Sure, you may like rap and own a few albums, but your hip hop knowledge can be fit into a thimble and you still want Will Smith to release another album. You also voted for Obama out of guilt, and want Das Racist to have a voice because they’re brown, and not because they could, one day soon, be great.
Das Racist – Hahahaha Jk
If they were a comedy parody trio, the 19 song mixtape wouldn’t be so egregious. If this were a compact, six song EP, Das Racist would be the hottest trio in hip hop right now, and people’s feelings would be hurt. There are five songs on here that put them ahead of their stylistic doppelganger The Cool Kids. Diplo and Boi-1da, who produced Drake’s “Best I Ever Had,” are a completely different type of producer than Chuck Inglish, and guest rapper El-P on the eponymous mixtape ending track crushes 64 consecutive bars that are the very definition of what rapping is all about. Boi-1da’s “Hahahaha Jk” is the beat of the year, his interpolation of the theme to soap opera “The Days of Our Lives” is beyond impressive, and pulls some really terrific and maturing work out of the trio. Diplo’s understated folk hop track for “You Can Sell Anything” sounds like someone gave spaghetti western score producer Ennio Morricone a drum machine and let him add it to his sonic tableau wherever he saw fit to do so. Tracks “All Tan Everything” and “Puerto Rican Cousins” are understated and humorous gems, in line with their work on Shut Up Dude, tight flows and humorous recollections of the world around them.
The tracks not mentioned above aren’t bad, they’re just unnecessary at this point. It’s clear that the maturation process has begun for Das Racist. They’ve been afforded beats by Diplo and Boi-1da, which shows that somehow, somewhere, there’s muscle now behind this group. It’s clear that this is a group of dudes who rhyme up to the level of individuals who can provide them legitimacy, and are perfectly content to let their ever present humor and laid back attitude define the rest of their work. Clearly, at 19 tracks, it allows for the work of producers less than Diplo, Scoop Deville, Dame Grease and Boi-1da to be evident, which is limiting to the potential of the band. In likely being populist and inclusive of everyone, they’re giving their homies a lot of shine, they failed themselves.
This is a time for these rappers to be selfish, step up a level, and make all the money they’re due. Being rappin’ ass brown rappers is absolutely a gimmick, and one that Das Racist rocks to perfection. This group has the potential to be enormous underground kings, and share stages with credibility with hip hop royalty. With greater focus comes greater reward. This mixtape isn’t the last you’ll hear of Das Racist, but if it’s the first, you’re definitely confused about the hype, and are definitely reserving judgment for something better. That didn’t have to be the case.
COP/DON’T COP THIS MIXTAPE
elivindotorg 