Relax (Das Racist album)
2011 studio album by Das Racist
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Relax is the only studio album by American hip hop trio Das Racist.[2] It was released by Greedhead Music on September 13, 2011.[3] It peaked at number 111 on the Billboard 200 chart.[4]
| Relax | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 13, 2011 | |||
| Studios | See-Thru Studios, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | |||
| Genre | Hip-hop | |||
| Length | 50:12 | |||
| Label | Greedhead Music | |||
| Producers | ||||
| Das Racist chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Relax | ||||
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Production
The album is produced by Diplo, El-P, Rostam Batmanglij, and Anand Wilder, among others.[5] It includes guest appearances from El-P, Danny Brown, and Despot.[5]
Release
On August 2, 2011, Das Racist released "Michael Jackson", the lead single from the album.[1] The music video for the song was premiered on September 9, 2011.[6] Directed by Weird Days, the video references Michael Jackson's "Black or White" video,[7] featuring the morphing faces of El-P, Despot, Lakutis, Hari Kondabolu, Mike Finito, Anand Wilder, Rostam Batmanglij, and Ben Schecter, among others.[8]
The album was released by Greedhead Music on September 13, 2011.[3]
The band played Late Night with Conan O'Brien on September 28, 2011.
Music videos were also created for "Brand New Dance"[9] and "Girl".[10]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.2/10[11] |
| Metacritic | 78/100[12] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| The A.V. Club | B+[14] |
| Chicago Tribune |  [15] |
| Consequence of Sound | [16] |
| Los Angeles Times | [17] |
| MSN Music (Expert Witness) | A[18] |
| Pitchfork | 6.3/10[19] |
| Rolling Stone | [20] |
| Slant Magazine | [21] |
| Spin | 8/10[22] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]
Tuyet Nguyen of The A.V. Club gave the album a "B+" grade, praising Das Racist's "acutely modern sense of humor."[14] Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "Relax finds Das Racist operating as both consumers and creators of pop culture, spawning an endless pomo cycle of criticism and observation."[21] Paul de Revere of Consequence of Sound called it "Das Racist's definitive album to date."[16]
Accolades
Track listing
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Relax" | 4:29 | |
| 2. | "Michael Jackson" |
| 4:16 |
| 3. | "Brand New Dance" | Wimberly | 3:01 |
| 4. | "Middle of the Cake" (featuring Anand Wilder) | Anand Wilder | 3:43 |
| 5. | "Girl" | Blood Diamonds | 3:23 |
| 6. | "Shut Up, Man" (featuring El-P) | El-P | 4:32 |
| 7. | "Happy Rappy" | Diplo | 2:21 |
| 8. | "Booty in the Air" | Wimberly | 3:47 |
| 9. | "Power" (featuring Danny Brown and Despot) | Dash Speaks | 4:46 |
| 10. | "Punjabi Song" (featuring Bikram Singh) | J-La | 3:31 |
| 11. | "Selena" | Wimberly | 2:16 |
| 12. | "Rainbow in the Dark" | J-La | 3:51 |
| 13. | "The Trick" | Rostam Batmanglij | 3:01 |
| 14. | "Celebration" | Francis Farewell Starlite | 2:40 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes.
- Kool A.D. – production (1, 2), artwork
- Heems – production (1, 2), executive production
- Patrick Wimberly – production (1, 2, 3, 8, 11), executive production, recording, mixing
- Travis Rosenberg – pedal steel guitar (2, 8)
- Anand Wilder – vocals (4), production (4)
- Blood Diamonds – production (5)
- El-P – vocals (6), production (6)
- Diplo – production (7)
- Lakutis – handclap (8)
- Danny Brown – vocals (9)
- Despot – vocals (9)
- Dash Speaks – production (9)
- Bikram Singh – vocals (10)
- J-La – production (10, 12)
- Rostam Batmanglij – production (13)
- Francis Farewell Starlite – production (14)
- Josh Ascalon – engineering (8, 11)
- Daniel Lynas – engineering (9)
- Chris Gehringer – mastering
- Katy Porter – photography
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[4] | 111 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[29] | 1 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30] | 26 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[31] | 15 |
| US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[32] | 12 |