Relax

iTunes Review

With Relax, Das Racist roll out their anticipated debut album, injecting brilliant pop-cultural satire into well-crafted “hipster-hop” that’s riddled with earworms. At times it’s difficult to tell if the Brooklyn trio are making fun of hip-hop or honoring it with a sideways sense of humor. The title track kicks-off with a smoky atmosphere and self-deprecating lyricism as Kool A.D. takes jabs at both his music and audience by curiously proclaiming, “White devils like it/ Drinking coffee brought to me by white devil sidekicks.” “Michael Jackson” is a standout single that delivers the goods to anyone looking for a cut comparable to Das Racist’s 2008 viral blog hit, “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.” Though it echoes Lil Wayne, the surreal wordplay is more on par with MF Doom and Ghostface Killah as Chairlift’s Patrick Wimberley fires off ricocheting keyboard notes throughout. Yeasayer’s Anand Wilder produced “Girl,” where shape-shifting sonic textures nearly upstage the clever rhymes. El-P gives a Def Jux touch to “Shut Up, Man” while “Rainbow In the Dark” immortalizes White Castle in a way that Harold and Kumar would appreciate.