You might know Das Racist as the guys who made “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” a couple of years ago, but as they’ll demonstrate Wednesday at the High Noon Saloon, these indie rappers are more than just “those guys.”
Music critics often talk about Das Racist’s lyrical critiques of consumerism, which they layer with pop culture references, self-promotion and basically whatever comes to mind. They are intelligent, often tongue-in-cheek rappers with a distinct underground style. With their first for-sale album, Relax, the goal was fairly simple, according to MC Victor Vasquez.
“There’s more singing; it’s more poppy, I guess,” Vasquez said. “We’re trying to make them more like pop songs – a little more Black Eyed Peas-y.”
It was hard to gauge how serious Victor was about the Black Eyed Peas comment, especially after he cited Pitbull as his only musical influence. Underground rappers like Das Racist don’t typically jive with the big-time mainstream acts, but why not let the music speak for itself? Songs off Relax like “Booty in the Air,” “Celebration” and “Girl” definitely vibe with the dance-pop goal, complete with singing refrains by featured artists. At times, it seems the only thing missing is some heavy-duty stage choreography.
Actually, a little incorporation of their daily antics could bring the performance spectacle closer to par with, say, the Black Eyed Peas. When The Badger Herald caught Victor on the phone, he was riding with a load of pyrotechnics to New Orleans, their concert destination for the night.
“We’re gonna go to New Orleans to play a show and then probably shoot off some fireworks and drink alcohol,” Vasquez said, his mind on the good times ahead. “I don’t know, bars are open late over there, right? We might do that too.”
Much of Relax retains the monotone wordplay verses and stream-of-consciousness flow they’ve brought in the past. It’s an eclectic collection they achieved through collaboration with Detroit rapper Danny Brown and El-P of indie-rap label Definitive Jux (think Aesop Rock, Del tha Funkee Homosapien and RJD2).
Vasquez said they just had fun with the collaborations and the recording process as a whole. They were even able to co-produce a few tracks and pull some older favorites into play on the new record.
To complement that casual approach, Vasquez mentioned that Das Racist is getting serious on the business side of things. They recently started a record label called Greedhead, which released Relax. But other than that, Vasquez didn’t have much to say about it: “Hima [fellow Das Racist MC] does, you know, that side of things.”
So why party with Das Racist, Danny Brown and Despot this Wednesday? Their new tracks are plenty danceable, and as Vasquez put it, “What else is there to do on that night in Madison”?
No word as to whether they’ll make an appearance at State Street’s KFC/Taco Bell mashup. But if you hear any fireworks exploding, you can guess where they came from.
Das Racist will appear at 8:30 Wednesday at the High Noon Saloon. Tickets are $12 in advance or $14 at the door. Go to www.high-noon.com for more information.
