Das Racist Break Up
Bummer: Wise-cracking, boundary-blurring New York rap outfit Das Racist are kaput. Member Himanshu Suri, aka Heems, let the news spill onstage during the On3 Festival in Germany Saturday night, where the group was scheduled to perform, but he ended up performing solo.
According to the fest's website, he said, "You guys wanna know the secret? Alright, so I'm going to do some Das Racist songs, but Das Racist is breaking up and we're not a band anymore."
The other half of the multi-culti duo, Victor Vazquez, aka Kool A.D., clarified with a tweet: "for the record i quit das racist 2 months ago and was asked by our manager not to announce it yet. apparently @himanshu wanted to do it tho." Heems then replied, "hah dag, my bad dont even remember saying that sh-t." Whoops!
The group blew up 2008 with their hilarious, totally-ridiculous-but-somehow-scholarly spoof on consumerism "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell," which began a series of seriously awesome albums and mixtapes--2010's Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down, Man, and 2011's debut full-length Relax. Have you heard Relax's "Michael Jackson"? It's stupid and stupid awesome beyond all comprehension. Listen below.
Heems dropped two solo mixtapes this year on his Greedhead label--Nehru Jackets and Wild Water Kingdom. Kool A.D. dropped two, too--The Palm Wide Drinkard and 51. In a Rolling Stone interview they even said new Das Racist material was in the works, as well as a pilot for a TV show. Hypeman Ashok Kondabolu, aka Dapwell, has yet to release any solo material.
Mourn their loss with this 2011 SPIN cover story.
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