The Witzard

Das Racist were hands down, one of the greatest post-2000 New York area Hip-Hop groups, who essentially created their own "outsider rap" scene, which would later harbor up-and-coming guys like Lakutis , LE1F, Mr. Muthaf*ckin' eXquire , Antwon, Kassa Overall , KechPhrase, Big Baby Gandhi , etc. Luckily enough, I had a chance to see Das Racist on their then unannounced 2012 "farewell tour" in Philly , a show which additionally featured a mini- Greehead label showcase: Lakutis , LE1F, and Weekend Money as opening acts. Since disbanding, founding members Himanshu "Heems" Suri and Victor "Kool A.D." Vazquez have each released a number of critically-acclaimed solo mixtapes; well, Heems actually uploaded two mixtapes, Nehru Jackets and Wild Water Kingdom , while Das Racist were still actively together. Suri then moved to Bombay, India between 2012-mid-2014 as part of a self-imposed exile, wherein he began recording material for his ...

"I think [we're] probably the world's only Indo-Pak rap group - peace process never sounded so rowdy," @SwetShopBoys triumphantly Tweeted on the eve of their premier single release, "Benny Lava." It's former Das Racist member Himanshu Suri (Heems) new 2-man group with Pakistan by way of London rapper, Riz MC ; Heems on the other hand, is a successful New York -based rapper and entrepreneur of Indian descent. Swet Shop Boys decided to rhyme over a recycled 2011 Ryan Hemsworth beat, which takes it's name from a mondegreen, Internet video re-interpretation, that's aptly titled "Benny Lava." It's all firmly anchored by Heems' neck-snapping first four bars: "Yo, Himanshu with the pen, I'm killing it / The white man the villain, them deny them penicillin / Syphilis experiments, death to the Tuskegee men / Somewhere in New York they say death to the squeegee men." The companion Prashant Bhargava & Tanu...