It’s been way too long since we’ve heard from Himanshu Suri, better known as Heems, the New York rapper who was once a member of both Das Racist and Swet Shop Boys. (I don’t know if Swet Shop Boys ever actually broke up, but Riz Ahmed, the other member of the group, is pretty busy these days.) Heems released Eat Pray Thug, his last solo album, way back in 2015, and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t made any solo tracks since the 2017 compilation track “Blades.” Other than a few appearances on Your Old Droog tracks, Heems has been altogether absent for years. So I’m happy to report that Heems is coming back with a new solo album next month.

Heems’ new album Lafandar is a full-length collaboration with Lapgan, an Indian American producer from Chicago who released a solo album called History last year. History was the first release on Heems new label Veena, which is also releasing Lafandar and which is apparently also a magazine and a webstore. Right now, Veena is selling some clothes that Heems designed with Peter Chung, as well as virgin coconut oil and the first-ever vinyl editions of Das Racist’s mixtapes Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down Man.

Heems quietly reemerged a couple of months ago, when he dropped a pretty great freestyle as part of the On The Rader series. On Lafandar, he collaborates with a fascinating array of artists, including Kool Keith, Open Mike Eagle, Quelle Chris, Fatboi Sharif, Sir Michael Rocks, Sid Sriram, Your Old Droog, Blu, and Abhi The Nomad. Lead single “Accent” is a sober, serious piece of work that includes a verse that Heems first performed when Swet Shop Boys were on Colbert in 2017. It’s a collaboration with Saul Williams, the veteran slam poet. Below, check out “Accent,” Heems On The Radar freestyle, and the Lafandar tracklist.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Stupid Dumb Illiterate” (Feat. Sid Sriram)
02 “I’m Pretty Cool”
03 “Sri Lanka” (Feat. Your Old Droog)
04 “Accent” (Feat. Saul Williams)
05 “Going for 6” (Feat. Sonnyjim & Abhi The Nomad)
06 “Baba Ganoush” (Feat. Lee Scott & Cool Calm Pete)
07 “Obi Toppin (Darling)” (Feat. Kool Keith)
08 “Kala Tika”
09 “Yellow Chakra” (Feat. Sir Michael Rocks & Open Mike Eagle)
10 “Porches” (Feat. Blu & Quelle Chris”
11 “Bukayo Saka”
12 “Yo Momma ” (Feat. Fatboi Sharif)

Lafandar is out 2/16 on Veena Sounds/Mass Appeal India.