Das Racist, Danny Brown - The Roxy - 11-3-11

Rebecca Haithcoat

Das Racist, Danny Brown
The Roxy
11-3-11

Aural chaos characterized Das Racist's show last night. Also, "Tricks with Microphones." The NYC trio of Himanshu Suri (Heems), Victor Vazquez (Kool A.D.) and Ashok Kondabolu (Dap) had a great earworm in 2008, "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell," their three-minute social commentary, disguised as a commentary on rap, disguised as a rap song.

Since then, the group has been toying with hip hop and its listeners, but they only poke fun at the music because they love it so much. They play this game well, and it's difficult to decipher what's planned, what's not, and what's deliberately unplanned. But last night the act was more like that hilarious dude in college who just started getting way too stoned.

Rebecca Haithcoat

Danny Brown

Danny Brown's set had the focus that Das Racist's lacked. On his latest album, XXX, he has a song devoted to his drug of choice, "Adderall Admiral." The Detroit rapper is one of hip hop's square pegs -- his hairstyle mimics the vocalist from Flock of Seagulls, his skinny jeans kept 50 Cent from signing him, and his voice often sounds like a strangled Dave Chappelle shouting.

But last night he proved he's doing just fine, charismatic and strong enough even to carry his show sans a hypeman. His lyrics are so raw they almost hurt to hear, and last night, he enunciated so clearly you couldn't miss a word. As images of water running down into Beyonce's open mouth played out on the screen behind him, he rapped from "Monopoly": "You ain't been what I been through/And if so, you would take a pencil through your temple/Cause I done served fiends on their menstrual/Ain't even had pads, stuffed they panties with tissue."

Das Racist doesn't get so grimy. Blasts of the air-horn effect played near continuously for so long it almost set off that irrepressible giggling instinct. Promising start.