Indian-Origin Rapper Heems Performed In Post-Attack Paris. Here's Why.

“In a terrible world, I think music is a tool no different from religion to get through difficult times.”

On Tuesday, November 17, rapper Heems (Himanshu Suri) wrote the above statement as part of an op-ed carried by Vice. In an eloquent piece of writing, Suri explained to the world why he had chosen to rap in Paris that night, closely following the terrorist attacks suffered by France’s capital city at the hands of suicide bombings.
In 2001, the year of New York’s 9/11 tragedy, Suri was attending a regular day of school in an institution close to the twin towers. As a young student, he watched the towers fall from his classroom window, and then again on television. Laying the groundwork of context, he wrote in his op-ed, “I’m also a brown man. I identify as Hindu, Sikh, Sufi. I wear long fabrics. A beard.” All these surface-skimming features ensured that living in America after 9/11 was not the same for Suri, as he explains, “Immediately, I felt like a victim of the events and of its racial repercussions. I saw how it affected Muslims, and have seen how it has affected my Muslim friends. I myself get “randomly” searched pretty often at airports.” He recalls how his mother wouldn’t let him volunteer to help Red Cross after the attack, out of fear of the discrimination the city might dole out against Middle Easterners and South Asians.

Suri, a Punjabi-American rapper, visual artist, and Greenhead Music record label owner, formerly performed alternative hip-hop with the crew Das Racist in 2008. Consequently moving into his solo career, he released several mixed tapes and albums such as Nehru Jackets and Wild Water Kingdoms, and his strong voice as a commentator on social issues such as global discrimination grew. With his highly acclaimed album Eat, Pray, Thug, he created what he describes as ‘post-9/11 dystopian brown man rap’, calling out xenophobia, racism, stereotyping, and bigotry. And this spirit of  promoting inclusion in a fragmented world stood stronger than ever on Tuesday, November 17.
In light of last week’s Paris attack, Suri received warnings similar in tone to that of his mother’s all those years ago. As he made a conscious decision to perform in France’s capital city Tuesday night, his music was making a larger, more important statement. He wrote, “So tonight I rap in Paris because I believe in hopefulness and the light of peace. If I could do anything with my art, it would only be to say, “We’re just like you.” As for Paris, I know cities live and breathe and survive and move on, just like people. New York did it. Bombay did it. Paris is doing it. And if I can help the healing process in any tiny way with my songs, words, sounds, then I’m a lucky man.”

[Read Himanshu ‘Heems’ Suri’s entire op-ed on Vice here.]