As something a little different on Jonk Music, Das Racist comes into the picture with thunder. “Combination nut lick and dick suck” is not in your average indie song. It’s also not in your average any song… so let’s call this one “indie” as well. Absurdity, mellow vibes, clever lyrics, and spot-on drops make “Power” a transitional bridge for underground music listeners and hipsters to branch into the scary world of top 40.
Das Racist — made up of Himanshu Suri (a.k.a. Heems), Victor Vasquez (a.k.a. Kool A.D.), and hype man Ashok Kondabolu (a.k.a. Dap) — hails from Brooklyn, New York. You may have stumbled upon their 2008 Internet sensation: “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.” As their claim to fame, this song represents the first snippet of their catchy, ridiculous personality. Das Racist has released only two mixtapes, both in 2010: Shut up, Dude and Sit Down, Man. However, their first studio album, Relax, came out in September with tremendous confidence and variety.
Danny Brown and Despot hit it off with Das Racist in the song, “Power.” Call it weird. Call it over the top. But you’ve got to admit, this song slaps you in the face with all the absurdity that you have ever desired. I can only picture Das Racist, Danny Brown, and Despot jumping around on trampolines, shot-gunning Red Bulls, and writing down nonsensical things that come off the top of their head to formulate a catchy song. Whatever it is they do, it works. “Power,” like the entire album, has both the laid back vibes to relax a sloth and wackiness to speed up a squirrel. Study with it on low volume or blast it and rage — the choice is yours.
The remarkable thing about Relax is that of the thirteen songs on the album, thirteen of the songs are unique. Each song is unique to each other, unique to anything I’ve heard before, and in turn make it hard not to listen to the album from beginning to end, over and over again. Keep an open mind and you will surely be hooked.