Relax (Das Racist album)

For other albums with the same title, see Relax (disambiguation) § Albums.

Relax
Studio album by Das Racist
Released	September 13, 2011 (2011-09-13)
Studio	See-Thru Studios, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genre	Hip-hop
Length	50:12
Label	Greedhead Music
Producer	Kool A.D. Heems Patrick Wimberly Anand Wilder Blood Diamonds El-P Diplo Dash Speaks J-La Rostam Batmanglij Francis Farewell Starlite
Das Racist chronology
Sit Down, Man (2010) Relax (2011)
Singles from Relax
"Michael Jackson" Released: August 2, 2011 [1]

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]

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

Professional ratings

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

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Robert Christgau	The Dean's List: Christgau's Best of 2011	1	[23]
Complex	25 Best Albums of 2011	14	[24]
Rolling Stone	50 Best Albums of 2011	28	[25]
Spin	50 Best Albums of 2011	16	[26]
Spin	40 Best Rap Albums of 2011	4	[27]
Stereogum	Top 50 Albums of 2011	41	[28]

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Relax"	Kool A.D. Heems Patrick Wimberly	4:29
2.	"Michael Jackson"	Kool A.D. Heems Wimberly	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

References

1. Hughes, Josiah (August 2, 2011). "Das Racist "Michael Jackson"". Exclaim! . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
2. Flanary, Patrick (December 3, 2012). "Das Racist's Victor 'Kool A.D.' Vazquez on Why the Rap Trio Split". Rolling Stone . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
3. Hughes, Josiah (July 8, 2011). "Das Racist Reveal New 'Relax' LP". Exclaim! . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
4. "Das Racist Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
5. Breihan, Tom (July 8, 2011). "Das Racist Announce New Album". Pitchfork . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
6. Newman, Jason (September 9, 2011). "Video Premiere: Das Racist, 'Michael Jackson'". MTV . Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
7. Hogan, Marc (September 9, 2011). "Das Racist Drop Clever "Michael Jackson" Clip". Spin . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
8. Goble, Corban (September 9, 2011). "Das Racist – "Michael Jackson" Video". Stereogum . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
9. Goble, Corban (December 9, 2011). "Das Racist – "Brand New Dance" Video". Stereogum . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
10. Coplan, Chris (October 30, 2012). "Video: Das Racist – "Girl"". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
11. "Relax by Das Racist reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
12. "Reviews for Relax by Das Racist". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
13. Hoffman, K. Ross. "Relax – Das Racist". AllMusic . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
14. Nguyen, Tuyet (September 13, 2011). "Das Racist: Relax". The A.V. Club . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
15. Kot, Greg (September 14, 2011). "Album review: Das Racist, 'Relax'". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
16. De Revere, Paul (September 28, 2011). "Album Review: Das Racist – Relax". Consequence of Sound . Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
17. Diehl, Matt (September 13, 2011). "Album Review: Das Racist's "Relax"". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
18. Christgau, Robert (September 20, 2011). "Das Racist/Ice Cube". MSN Music . Archived from the original on November 25, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
19. Cohen, Ian (September 16, 2011). "Das Racist: Relax". Pitchfork . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
20. Sheffield, Rob (September 13, 2011). "Relax". Rolling Stone . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
21. Cataldo, Jesse (September 15, 2011). "Das Racist: Relax". Slant Magazine . Retrieved December 8, 2018.
22. Harvilla, Rob (September 13, 2011). "Das Racist, 'Relax' (Greedhead Music)". Spin . Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
23. Christgau, Robert (January 13, 2012). "The Dean's List: Christgau's Best of 2011". The Barnes & Noble Review. Barnes & Noble . Retrieved January 13, 2019.
24. "The 25 Best Albums of 2011: #14. Das Racist, Relax". Complex . December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
25. "50 Best Albums of 2011: Das Racist, 'Relax'". Rolling Stone . December 7, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
26. "SPIN's 50 Best Albums of 2011 (page 7)". Spin . December 12, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
27. "SPIN's 40 Best Rap Albums of 2011". Spin . December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
28. "Stereogum's Top 50 Albums Of 2011". Stereogum . December 5, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
29. "Das Racist Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
30. "Das Racist Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
31. "Das Racist Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
32. "Das Racist Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2018.

External links

• Relax at Discogs (list of releases)
• Relax at MusicBrainz (list of releases)