new music: heems of das racist releases debut solo album, ‘eat pray thug”

Listen to ‘Eat Pray Thug’, the debut solo album from Heems. Formerly of alt hip hop group Das Racist, the debut sees the Indian American rapper (real name Himanshu Suri) extending the political and social commentary of his former group, with a protest album – mostly recorded in Mumbai, India – that centers on his identity as both a brown man and a New Yorker. In a recent interview with the Aicon Gallery in Manhattan, where he contributed to an exhibition connected to the new release, Heems says: “The album is all about New York. It was one of those artist-in-exile things, like the Beastie Boys in L. A. or E. B. White leaving New York to write about the city. When you leave New York, it’s all that you think about. In India, I wasn’t the Indian rapper – I was just the rapper. Ironically, it was there that I was able to look past being Indian, and that allowed me to make this record.” Stream the full album here.

By Alexander Aplerku, AFROPUNK Contributor

* https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heems