Das Racist: "Puerto Rican Cousins"

I totally geeked out over Das Racist’s first mixtape, Shut Up, Dude. I know that I’m not supposed to like them—they’re too self-aware, too consciously ironic, too small liberal arts college, too Brooklyn circa 2007. But what can I say? “Fake Patois” was my jam. So when I heard that they were coming to play at my school this weekend, I was beyond excited. Free show! Das Racist! But there was a big ol’ ticket hullabaloo, and I didn’t get into the show. Travesty, right?

As a weird sort of consolation to the true fans (read: nerdy boys in Wu Tang Clan t-shirts. Also: me) who didn’t know you needed tickets (for a free show!), the club hosting the event announced that they would also be hosting a brunch with the band the next day. So I dragged my roommate along, and we ate some dorm cafeteria dim sum and made awkward small talk about Teach For America and Shaggy and MiniDisc players. It was surreal. Then I went home and downloaded their new mixtape, Sit Down, Man.

“Puerto Rican Cousins” is my favorite song on the album, by far. Mostly because it’s really, really funny. A casual survey of the internet tells me that most people actually prefer “hahahaha jk?” but that, to me, sounds like the heyday of Eminem which is really not a time I wish to be transported back to.

Part of the reason I like this band so much is that they remind me of Atmosphere, and Atmosphere reminds me of being fourteen again. There is something very Slug-like about Victor Vazquez’s delivery (and Heems’ too, for that matter), and that is definitely on full display in this song. The harsh “rock-influenced” feel of the song, married with the almost too-clever lyrics, also strike me as owing a lot to the Rhymesayers aesthetic, but maybe that’s just the Minnesotan in me talking. I mean, I think you could probably replace “Atmosphere” with “Aesop Rock” and the gist of this paragraph would remain largely the same. So this song sounds a little dated, is what I’m saying. But it’s definitely worth a listen, if only to see if you can catch all the pop culture references they pack into three minutes.