Das Racist

Das Racist

Das Racist is a hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York, active from 2008 to 2012. The group is made up of Heems, Ashok Kondabolu, Himanshu Suri and Victor Vazquez. It begins as a duo centred on Queens-born Himanshu Suri and San Francisco-born Victor Vazquez, with Ashok Kondabolu joining later as a hype man for live shows and music videos.

Formation and members

Suri and Vazquez meet in 2003 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where Vazquez is Suri’s resident advisor in a “Students of Color for Social Justice” theme dormitory. Suri is a member of the Eclectic Society and is also an alumnus of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vazquez is also a member of Boy Crisis. Kondabolu and Suri are both alumni of Stuyvesant High School.

Style and reception

The group is known for humour, obscure references and an unconventional style, and it is often described in conflicting terms, being dismissed by some as joke rap while being praised by others as a new voice in rap. Its members describe the approach as “deconstructionalist”, comparing it to pulling apart hip hop while also celebrating it. The New York Times writes that the group’s lack of piety becomes an aesthetic in itself, with songs that work as both commentary on hip hop and detailed practice of it. The Root says the group can speak for both “the ‘hood or the nearest gated community,” while Playboy describes it as equal parts hip hop and Cheech & Chong.

Recognition

Spin names Das Racist as one of 50 acts to watch at the 2010 SXSW festival. MTV Iggy selects the group as one of the 25 best new bands in the world in April 2010. Rolling Stone includes the song “hahahaha jk?” from Sit Down, Man among the fifty best singles of 2010. The group’s set at the Pop Montreal festival is described as one of the festival’s most divisive shows.

Breakup

Statements made by members in December 2012 make it clear that the group has broken up.