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Heems is a 38-year-old MC from Queens, New York who emerged in 2008 as 1/3 of the alternative hip-hop group Das Racist. After their breakup in 2012, he released a few mixtapes Nehru jacket & Wild Water Kingdom as well as the full-length debut album Eat Pray Thug. However, returning from a 9-year hiatus, Hima has launched his own imprint Mass Appeal Records Veena Sounds and is joining forces with the new label's in-house producer Lapgan for the second effort.
For starters, “Stupid Dumb Illiterate” admits to being a little stupid over a Middle Eastern instrumental, while “I'm Pretty Cool” gives off more of a psychedelic blast talking about how everyone loves him. The album's 2nd and final single “Sri Lanka” with Your Old Droog speaks well of the country of the same name with those woodwinds, until the jazzy “Accent” with Saul Williams from a few weeks before enters the conscious verse.
“Going for 6″ featuring Abhi the Nomad & SonnyJim finds the trio taking inspiration from Daringer with its boom bap beat boasting that they keep the coke in the swing and the 6 people rolling next to them have sticks just before the ” Baba Ganoush”. with Cool Calm Pete & Lee Scott have these strangely elegant sitar tones that enter the rap battle. “Obi Toppin' (Darling)” featuring Kool Keith seems to steal that sample of soul and that's exactly what the two accomplish, but then “Kala Tika” shifts into exercise territory talking about being the man on Long Island.
Open Mike Eagle and Sir Michael Rocks with Heems on “Yellow Chakra” over a Bollywood twist of kicks and snares that liken their infectious bars to the COVID-19 pandemic, while raw “Porches” with Blu & Quelle Chris watch the trio talk about going from jumping off porches to passing torches in Porsches. The soothing penultimate track 'Bukayo Saka' details the wild life they live in and 'Yo Momma' featuring Fatboi Sharif ties the LP together with strings projecting their fears into their works.
Nehru jacket has always stood as my favorite Hima tape & the best solo effort in his discography up to this point, but Lafandar is a return with some notable improvements over the previous full-length he last gave us almost a decade ago. Lapgan's production is well-deservedly introduced to a wider audience, giving them a glimpse of how much he's evolved behind the scenes over the last 5 years, incorporating various top-to-bottom South Asian film samples that amusingly compliment Heems' trademark laugh-out-loud loudly. & a solid tight guest list.
Rating: 8/10