Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

Das Racist – Girl

And now, some small-w “wallpaper.”


[Video][Website]
[5.00]

Edward Okulicz: Perfectly adequate electro-pop fodder underpins a song that’s not sure if it’s deliberately understated, serious or a comic exaggeration of the slight lameness of its sonic cousins. I’m guessing that it’s half-hearted, because Das Racist aren’t distinctly talented enough to pull off a woozy electro-loverman pop song, nor are they that funny at their best, which this isn’t. Besides which, knowingly pastiching something kinda lame generally produces something really lame, and this is just inoffensive.
[5]

Andy Hutchins: The sexual assault allegations that were brought to light about Das Racist on Reddit are among the most staggering in a minute, because “Womyn” and “Booty in the Air” and “Selena” all exist, and because Das Racist has seemed to be more feminist than just merely non-misogynistic for most of its existence. “Girl”‘s “And I know, and I know, and I know what we came to do / And I’m pretty sure that you do, too” sure sounds different in light of them, though. (That’s the Pitchfork-ready review; the real one is about how sunny and warm this seems, even when it’s on a Kmart commercial, and how effortless that little snatch of melody at the end is.)
[7]

Patrick St. Michel: The Das Racist story so far: Brooklyn rap group nabs Internet attention thanks to an idiotic song about a dual-franchise fast-food stop. Said outfit surprises a bunch of critics with a pair of smart and catchy mixtapes that hint that maybe they aren’t as lunkheaded as initially believed. Group signs to major label and releases an album that’s just sorta “meh.” Group eventually scores Kmart money via “Girl,” one of their least interesting songs and one devoid of humor or cleverness unless not rapping well constitutes either. The world is a strange place.
[3]

Anthony Easton: Really dumb, but the line “plus, I heard you had a pool” made me laugh — which is worth something. 
[4]

Alfred Soto: With a sequenced bass line that sounds lifted from a Robyn track, I expected these fools to submerge their doggerel beneath the beat. Turns out the meathead rhymes deserve a hearing, especially the one about the pool.
[5]

Jonathan Bogart: Trading in jokes and politcal, uhh, consciousness for some half-hearted blog-ballad crooning is one way to ensure you end up on a lot of web-distributed crush mixtapes, I guess. But is there a career in that?
[6]

Brad Shoup: Produced by Blood Diamonds (a 2011 Dumbest Interview finalist), which explains those fucking marimbas popping up in the mix. If you’re, like, Xgau-heavy into these dudes, you’ll give ’em credit for any of a half-dozen shruggingly dumb phrases. Hey, it might even be a parody! It turns out you can have it all.
[5]

3 Responses to “Das Racist – Girl”

  1. Loving this integer average kick we’re on. If I had given Whitehorse the [6] I think it is, we would have scored six integers in a row, as well as two consecutive days of the same averages (file under: math/statistics no one cares about but me).

  2. DOM PASSANTINO WATCH 2012

    it’s the perfect storm

  3. I could have swung a point Whitehorse’s way. Ah well.