Heems is a 38 year old MC from Queens, New York emerging in 2008 as 1/3 of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist. Following their disbandment in 2012, he put out a couple mixtapes Nehru Jackets & Wild Water Kingdom as well as the full-length debut album Eat Pray Thug. However coming back from a 9-year sabbatical, Hima has started up his own Mass Appeal Records imprint Veena Sounds & is joining forces with the new label’s in-house producer Lapgan on the sophomore effort.
To start us off, “Stupid Dumb Illiterate” admits to being a little bit of an idiot over a Middle Eastern instrumental whereas “I’m Pretty Cool” gives off more of a psychedelic flare talking about how everyone loves him. The album’s 2nd & final single “Sri Lanka” featuring Your Old Droog speak on doing well in the titular country over these woodwinds that is until the jazzy “Accent” featuring Saul Williams from a couple weeks prior to that gets on the conscious tip lyrically.
“Going for 6” featuring Abhi the Nomad & SonnyJim finds the trio draws inspiration from Daringer with it’s boom bap beat boasting that they keep the coke at the crib & the 6 people who’re rolling alongside them have sticks just before “Baba Ganoush” featuring Cool Calm Pete & Lee Scott has these eerily plucky sitar tones getting in their battle rap shit. “Obi Toppin’ (Darling)” featuring Kool Keith looks to hijack this soul sample & that’s exactly what both of them get done, but then “Kala Tika” shifts into drill territory talking about being the man in Long Island.
Open Mike Eagle & Sir Michael Rocks join Heems on “Yellow Chakra” over a Bollywood flip with kicks & snares likening their infectious bars to the COVID-19 pandemic while the raw “Porches” featuring Blu & Quelle Chris sees the trio talking about going from jumping off porches to passing torches in Porsches. The sedative penultimate track “Bukayo Saka” details the wild life he lives & “Yo Momma” featuring Fatboi Sharif ties up the LP over strings projecting their fears into their projects.
Nehru Jackets always stood as my favorite Hima tape & the best solo effort in his discography up to this point, but Lafandar is a comeback with some notable improvements over the previous full-length he last gave us almost a decade ago. Lapgan’s production worthily introduces to a wider audience by giving them a look at how much he’s evolved behind the boards over the course of the last 5 years incorporating various cinematic South Asian samples top to bottom that entertainingly compliment Heems’ trademark laugh-out-loud wit & a consistent tight guest list.
Score: 8/10