Homegrown Staff
For hip-hop aficionados in India and across the world, Heems aka Himanshu Suri is an artist that needs no introduction. As one of the pioneers of alternative hip-hop with groups like Das Racist and the Swet Shop Boys, his music has blazed a trail
Spanning over two decades, Heems' creative efforts have always pushed the boundaries of what’s possible for South Asians in an industry where they haven’t always been embraced wholeheartedly. There’s an unapologetic intentionality in the way that he uses his roots and his heritage to speak to wider themes of race, identity and politics in America and beyond.
‘LAFANDAR’, which dropped February 16, is his first album in almost a decade and in many ways picks up where he left off on his 2015 album, ‘Eat Pray Thug’. On LAFANDAR, a collaboration between him and Indian-American producer Gaurav Nagpal aka Lapgan
Alongside his musical endeavours, Heems has been hard at work expanding his lifestyle and magazine project ‘Veena Industries’, which he describes as his way of introducing people to his diasporic identity and the various cross-cultural influences that are a part of his world.
We sat down with the man himself for a brief, yet eye-opening chat, where he opened up about what influenced his new album, the importance of taking some time off, his ambitions for Veena, and much more!