(Mishka)
RECOMMENDED
"Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" was about as auspicious a career beginning as "Short People." And if you're about to tell me about how smarmy this hipster alt-rap is, well, I pretty much agree. As if "consciousness rap" wasn't a shitty and one-dimensional enough label, now we have to contend with a further pointless fragmentation, the same exact bullshit that's got rock & roll in general thrown off into various separatist ghettos. Fine, but Das Racist aren't "alternative" (which in rap music is code for bland and unoriginal) and they're not a joke. MC Paul Barman was joke-rap. This mixtape, DR's second released in 2010, is real shit that has a stunning level of imagination within its modest trappings.
Since coming off their novelty phenomenon track, Himanshu Suri and Victor Vazquez have been hailed as leaders of "hyperlink," an MC style that consists of Family Guy-esque references strung together haphazardly. The band prefers "dadaist," and I see their point. Rather than the cultural degeneration suggested by the hyperlink rubric, I hear a certain punkish energy and breathless excitement that feels copped from the sunny days of Paul's Boutique and 3 Feet High and Rising. Whereas the old-school fetishizing of Jurassic 5 and the early Black Eyed Peas came off false, strained, and lazy, Das Racist are the first specifically throwback crew in a while to actually use their consciousness as a vehicle for an individualist expression.
The production doesn't aim for the populist jugular the way De La Soul and the Beasties once did, but it is nearly as adventurous as their best work. Yes, there's sensory overload at times, but the thing operates wonderfully as a whole. The rapid-fire flow can be forced at times, and there is a palpable fear of being too direct which could end up getting these gifted, smart dudes in artistic trouble, but the lyrical depth and charm are appreciated. It's fun stuff.
Keep in mind this isn't a proper album -- I expect Das Racist's first actual LP will deserve far more praise than I'm giving this -- but a mixtape that comes with all the usual mixtape trappings. You're meant to root through and parse this thing discovering shit. It's supposed to be confusing and overwhelming, which it is, so you'll help build some hype. Do so and hopefully soon we'll get some full-fledged, focused illness from these guys. I guarantee you'll look forward to it after hearing this.
And hey, why are you still reading? This shit's downloadable for free. Go grab it now.
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