Das Racist was an American alternative hip hop group based in Brooklyn, composed of MCs Heems and Kool A.D. and hype man Ashok Kondabolu. Known for their use of humor, academic references, foreign allusions, and unconventional style, Das Racist was widely hailed as an urgent new voice in rap, after occasionally being misunderstood as joke rap when they first appeared.
Das Racist performing at Governors Ball in New York City in 2011
Promotional poster from the Sundance Film Festival for the "Who's That? Brooown!" video, in the style of Nintendo-published NES games.
Heems on stage in Atlanta, GA, 2011.
Victor Vazquez, also known by his stage name Kool A.D., is an American rapper, record producer, author, and artist. He is from the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Vazquez is best known for being a member of the New York-based rap group Das Racist, though he has also been a member of the bands Boy Crisis and Party Animal. Vazquez has also released his own solo material, including numerous mixtapes. Mother Jones magazine described his work as "a thoughtful effort to deconstruct and rearrange cultural objects in ways that challenge our deepest assumptions about society and cultural products".
Kool A.D. performing at Governors Ball in New York City in 2011
Vazquez's representation of "a futuristic utopia where racism doesn't exist" that won him the cartoon-off with Farley Katz