Das Racist

Suri and Vazquez met in 2003 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut[12][13] where Vazquez was Suri's resident advisor[14] in a "students of color for social justice"-themed dormitory.[15] However, they formed Das Racist only after both had moved to New York following their graduation from college.[16] Kondabolu, who had met Suri when they were both students at New York's Stuyvesant High School,[17] soon joined as their hype man.[18] Suri and Kondabolu are both from Queens, New York and of Indian descent, and Vazquez is of Afro-Cuban and Italian descent and from the San Francisco Bay Area.[19] Vazquez is also a member of power-pop band Boy Crisis.[20]

Himanshu Suri stated in an interview:

I think being minorities at a liberal arts college and that type of environment had an impact on both the way we view race and our sense of humor, which people often use as a tool to deal with race. I always felt like Wonder Showzen was a television show that captured that type of thing perfectly. When I saw the little kid yelling "THAT'S RACIST" it blew my mind. And then it became a game...to take all the seriousness out of making legitimate commentary on race, because that can get very annoying. So when something veering on racially insensitive would pop off in a commercial on television or something it would be like, who could yell "That's Racist" first. And then we thought it would be a cool name. Das EFX may have been an inspiration.[21]

Das Racist first began attracting attention with their song "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell".[21][22] In November 2008, The Guardian called Das Racist a "funny and funky duo", placing them on a list of eight bands worth checking out.[23] In March 2009, Baltimore-based electronic musician Dan Deacon referred to "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" as "a track that will last the ages" in XLR8R magazine.[24] Death & Taxes magazine described the song as "an existential meditation on consumer identity in corporate America" and "both feverishly juvenile and somehow profound".[25] After playing at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon, The New York Times described Das Racist's set as "characteristically shambolic, and characteristically entertaining, holding together a half-hour set of half-performed songs with hyperliterate reference points and self-aware charm".[26]

Promotional poster from the Sundance Film Festival for the "Who's That? Brooown!" video, in the style of Nintendo-published NES games.

Das Racist's first album, the Shut Up, Dude mixtape, was released as a free download in March 2010.[27] The mixtape received positive reviews, earning a score of 7.8 from Pitchfork,[28] and being described as "a fascinating album that attempts to write an impossibly new blueprint for rap: funny without trying to impress; proficient without having anything to prove; relevant without taking any particular scene seriously; imbued with a soulful sense of place—urban, disaffected, ethnic—but more interested in how that serves as fodder for jokes than in any big grab for meaning".[29]

For the song "Who's That? Brooown!" (which samples A Tribe Called Quest's song "Scenario") Das Racist released a playable 8-bit video game of Suri and Vazquez on a quest through the New York City boroughs of Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn to find Kondabolu, referencing 1980s ephemera such as Double Dragon, Back to the Future, Narc, and Frogger.[30] Pitchfork named the video one of the forty best of 2010, and it was selected to screen at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.[31][32]

Six months later, Das Racist released their second mixtape Sit Down, Man on September 14, 2010, also as a free download. Sit Down, Man received even better reviews, earning a score of 8 from Spin magazine,[33] as well as an 8.7 and "Best New Music" from Pitchfork,[34] and was downloaded over 40,000 times in the first week.[35] Guests on Sit Down, Man include El-P, Despot, Vijay Iyer, and Chairlift with production from Diplo, Dame Grease, Devo Springsteen, Sabzi (of Blue Scholars and Common Market) and Boi-1da.[36]

Their first commercially released album, titled Relax, was released on September 13, 2011, on Suri's own Greedhead Music label.[37] The album includes production from Diplo, El-P, Rostam Batmanglij (of Vampire Weekend), and Anand Wilder (of Yeasayer), as well as guest appearances from El-P, Danny Brown, Bikram Singh, and Despot.[38] Das Racist consider Relax to be a more accessible album, and they refer to it as a "pop record".[39] Despite receiving a middling review from Pitchfork,[40] who had lauded their previous efforts, the album has received a generally favorable response, earning an 8 out of 10 from Spin magazine,[41] and reaching the number one spots on both the iTunes Hip Hop/Rap chart and the U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers albums chart.[42] Rolling Stone included the album at No. 28 on their 50 Best Albums of 2011 list[43] and the song "Girl" at No. 34 on their list of the best singles of the year.[44] Spin placed the album at No. 4 on their Best Rap Albums of 2011 list[45] and No. 16 on their list of the best albums of 2011.[46]

At their concert of June 9, 2012 at Bonnaroo Music Festival, the duo stated that they would begin work presently on their second album, for which they have already written material.[47] In an episode of the second season of A Day in the Life, Das Racist were seen recording a new song, titled "People All Over the World". In July 2012, Das Racist signed a deal with Sony/Megaforce Records for their next album,[48] and shortly thereafter, their song "Girl" appeared in a commercial for Kmart.[49]

In December 2012, Heems announced to a crowd at the On3 Festival in Munich that Das Racist had broken up.[50] In response, Kool A.D. tweeted that he had left the band two months prior but had been keeping his departure under wraps.[51] The breakup came after they had signed a record deal and were to release a "proper album", followed by a tour. Dapwell told Spin, "We had a plan to break up around May. We had just signed this record deal and we were going to put out one proper album and then go on a farewell tour, release a proper breaking up statement that could have been really funny, maybe a weird, stupid video. Now, all of that has gone to shit."[52] Speaking to Rolling Stone, Vazquez said he and Suri had been "trying to do slightly different things" professionally and artistically.[53]

Following the break-up both Suri and Vazquez both continued to make rap music. Heems released two mixtapes called "Nehru Jackets" and "Wild Water Kingdom." Both mixtapes continued his work with Queens producer Mike Finito, among other producers such as Keyboard Kid and Lushlife. Vazquez began a very prolific solo career after the break-up. Beyond his visual art, Vazquez played live shows in support of his mixtapes "51," "19," and "63." The three tapes, named after former bus lines in the Oakland area, feature production from the likes of Amaze88 and Trackademicks.

Dapwell stayed busy as well, working full-time on an active Twitter feed, as well as producing a podcast with his comedian brother, Hari Kondabolu. He also co-hosts the radio show Chillin' Island with Despot, and has two separate comedic television shows in development.

• Shut Up, Dude (2010)
• Sit Down, Man (2010)

• Keepaway - "Zoo Too" from Kompetitor (2010)
• Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire - "The Last Huzzah!" from Lost in Translation (2011)
• Lakutis - "Wifey" from I'm in the Forest (2011)
• BBU - "Please, No Pictures" from Bell Hooks (2012)
• Action Bronson & Party Supplies - "Arts & Leisure" from Blue Chips (2012)
• Big Baby Gandhi - "Blue Magic" from No1 2 Look Up 2 (2012)
• The Coup - "WAVIP" from Sorry to Bother You (2012)
• Busdriver - "Fire Hydrant" from Arguments with Dreams (2012)
• Talib Kweli & Z-Trip - "I Like It" from Attack the Block (2012)