Simon Wald-Lasowski photo.

Simon Wald-Lasowski photo.

Das Racist

with Danny Brown and Despot. Thursday, Sept. 29, Toad's Place, 300 York St., New Haven, (203) 624-TOAD,

Toto, I don't think we're at the Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell anymore. No, Das Racist has come quite far from their absurdist breakout hit in the past few years. Although they are far from abandoning their roots in joke rap and socially conscious hip-hop, with their newest record, Relax, they are definitely taking their music in a bold new direction. On Sept. 29, you can see them at Toad's Place in New Haven, just down the road from members Heems and Kool A.D.'s alma mater,Wesleyan University.

Das Racist are an independent rap group comprising vocalists Himanshu Suri ("Heems") and Victor Vazquez ("Kool A.D."), as well as hype man Ashok Kondabolu ("Dap"). Kool A.D., who hails from San Francisco, met Queens-born Heems at college, after which point they joined up with Dap, ultimately forming the group in Brooklyn. They have lived all over BK, from the gentrified neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick, to the racially diverseCrown Heights.

In 2008, "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" shot them to Internet fame, and since then, they've produced two mixtapes (available for free online), as well as a full-fledged LP, which debuted on Sept. 13. When asked about how often they are asked about their silly first song, Kool A.D. responded, "We have, like, a routine for answering stuff about that song." At this point in the game, Das Racist tries to be patient and reasonable with their interlocutors, as they know that the song will inevitably crop up (as it has done so here).

As with their mixtapes, Relax's outrageousness sometimes masks deep, rich musical backgrounds, as well as the band's wide-ranging knowledge of pop culture, social history and racial tensions in the United States. Their reference to soul artist Otis Redding in the album's eponymous track stems from their regard for the singer, not to Jay-Z and Kanye West's new single. Kool A.D. told me that he "wrote that song about a year ago," and that there's "[n]o connection whatsoever" to the other track.

Outside of music, the members of Das Racist love to smoke weed, watch TV and according to a song off their first mixtape, read difficult books. In spite of his Wesleyan background, Kool A.D. claims that no matter what the song would have you believe, reading James Joyce's Finnegans Wake would only be a "huge waste of [his] time." However, he does "really like the first page." Catch Das Racist at Toad's Place on Thursday, Sept. 29.