Das Racist

You may love Das Racist, you may hate them, you may think they are important- the New York Times certainly thinks they are. Whether you think they are part of a serious discussion on post-race America couched in hip-hop or clever stoners jerking off over a beat, they’ve given some interesting interviews. So when their publicist wrote that he could guarantee me one of the best interviews of my life, it seemed like a good deal, but when they stipulated that the interview would be via e-mail, it seemed like less of a good idea- here’s some past evidence why. To wit, here are the questions as answered by Victor Vazquez, which their publicist called it “funny, irreverent and topical,” and added to “have fun interpreting the answers!” At least Becky Lang of the Twin Cities Daily Planet had a full conversation with Himanshu Suri. So there you have it, the polarity of Das Racist. They are down at Carleton College’s The Cave down in Northfield on Friday night with Kristoff Krane, and it almost might be worth the drive just to watch that irony and earnestness butt up against eachother. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, an e-mail interview with Das Racist:

C15: Do you feel you get taken too seriously or not seriously enough?

Victor Vazquez: DAVE: THIS IS COOL BRO

C15: The tour stop here in Minnesota is at a liberal arts college in a small town. Seeing as how you formed at Wesleyan, is that a comfortable space for you guys, does it get weird, or is it like some Dazed & Confused deal? College kids like to party, right?

VV: BRAD: BRO THIS IS SO WEIRD

C15: From the Shut Up, Dude mixtape to the Sit Down, Man mixtape, you brought on a number of more producers and collaborators and put out Sit Down, Man through Mad Decent & Greedhead. Any plans for an “album” “released” via the “music recording industry”?

VV: DAN: OH FUCK!

C15: In “hahahaha jk?” you quote Lauryn Hill’s “Everything is Everything”. Hill is widely rumored to have made comments to the effect that “If I had known white people were going to buy my last album, I never would have recorded it.” Is that racist? Conversely, although she has attempted to rebut those rumors, they keep on dogging her. Is THAT racist?

VV: TED: SUCK MY DICK!

C15: You sampled Enigma. Is there any innocence left for us to return to?

VV: BRET: BRO!

C15: Can we play some word association? I will have typed a word or phrase and you read it and type something in response in a simulacrum of spontaneity.

C15: “Kanye West”

VV: KANYE WEST

C15: “Taylor Swift”

VV: KANYE WEST

C15: “Huck Finn with “N—–” replaced with “Slave””

VV: TAYLOR SWIFT

C15: “M.I.A.”

VV: TAYLOR SWIFT

C15: “The New Yorker”

VV: TAYLOR SWIFT

C15: “Pitchfork Media”

VV: TAYLOR SWIFT

C15: Any parting words of wisdom?

VV: KANYE WEST