Member Skoob hails from Brooklyn, New York City while Krazy Drayzy hails from Teaneck, New Jersey but the two met at Virginia State University in 1988 and began performing together. They named themselves "Das" standing for "Drayz and Skoob" and "EFX" meaning "effects". Das EFX caught the attention of EPMD at a local talent show where, despite losing the competition, they did well enough to convince EPMD to sign them to a recording contract. The duo gained critical and commercial fame with the release of their landmark debut album, Dead Serious, which highlighted their unusual rapping style which they nicknamed "sewage".
Dead Serious went platinum and its lead single, "They Want EFX," (which contains samples from James Brown's "Blind Man Can See It" and Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals") reached the top ten on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, the top 40 on its Hot 100 Singles chart and #1 on its Hot Rap Tracks chart. Follow-up singles "Mic Checka" and "Straight Out the Sewer" did not chart on the Hot 100 but reached #1 and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, respectively.
