Das Racist Break Up: Trio Awkwardly Announce Split

Over the weekend, Das Racist announced that they are no longer a band -- both through an onstage announcement from Heems (Himanshu Suri) at the On3 festival in Germany and a tweet from Kool A.D. claiming he quit the band two months ago. Kool A.D.'s tweet goes on to say his manager asked him to keep the breakup under wraps.

Spin reports that the third member of the group, hypeman Dapwell, is upset about the split, bust mostly due to monetary reasons.

"I was bummed when we actually broke up, when it was done, mostly because it was a way to make money really easily. Now, I probably won't be able to make money that easily ever again," Dapwell said.

"But we had a plan to break up around May. We had just signed this record deal and we were going to put out one proper album and then go on a farewell tour, release a proper breaking up statement that could have been really funny, maybe a weird, stupid video. Now, all of that has gone to shit."

The announcement is even more surprising for fans, as Suri told Rolling Stone in an interview just last month that several new tracks for the group's next album are complete and that it would be finished this year. There was also talk of the guys shooting a pilot for a TV show.

Founded in 2008, Das Racist gained popularity when their rather ridiculous track "Combination Taco Bell Pizza Hut" became an internet hit. Though that song is almost repulsively juvenile, the group went on to release some intriguing, cutting cultural commentary in the form of tongue-in-cheek rap/party-rock music.

Both Heems and Kool A.D. have released two solo mixtapes, so clearly they will continue to make music -- even if it isn't together. For a more in-depth examination of the group's influence and context within the New York rap scene read the eloquent reflections on their break-up posted over at Noisey.