Heems, recently announced new album LAFANDAR. After a six-year hiatus from releasing solo material, the LP will arrive February 16th via his own Veena Sounds label in partnership with Nas’s Mass Appeal India. The project is a collaboration with Indian-American producer Lapgan, who released his History project as the inaugural body of work on Heems’ new Veena label.

Along with the announcement, Heems releases “Accent,” its poignant lead single that was developed from a verse that he wrote in the wake of George Floyd’s killing and first debuted in 2017 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as part of the Swet Shop Boys with Riz Ahmed. Composed of twelve tracks, LAFANDAR consists of noteworthy peers from Heems’ past and present such as Kool Keith, Saul Williams, Open Mike Eagle, Sir Michael Rocks of The Cool Kids, Your Old Droog, Quelle Chris, Jersey’s Fatboi Sharif, and fellow artists of South Asian descent, Sid Sriram and Abhi the Nomad.

Heems is also formally launching his new magazine and brand, Veena. An ode to the collision of his South Asian heritage and New York roots, Veena is dedicated to and named after his mother, and explores the implementation of self-care through Heems’ passions – fashion, flows, and food. In celebration of its launch, Veena is releasing a product offering encompassing all three of its core tenets — Sounds, Wears and Naturals — including physical editions of both 2010 Das Racist mixtapes Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down Man, which are being made available on vinyl for the first time. Veena is also releasing two tees designed by Himanshu Suri and Peter Chung (Supreme, Polo) and 100% organic cold-pressed virgin coconut oil made in India.

Speaking on the connection between his music and his new endeavor with Veena, Heems says, “My world was one of graffiti and golgappas, skateboards and saris, music and Mughals, and so on. This is what my music sounds like.” Now he invites you to experience the rest of the world he is building.

Heems
LAFANDAR
Veena Sounds / Mass Appeal India
Tracklisting

1. Stupid Dumb Illiterate – Heems, Lapgan, Sid Sriram
2. I’m Pretty Cool – Heems, Lapgan
3. Sri Lanka – Heems, Lapgan, Your Old Droog
4. Accent – Heems, Lapgan, Saul Williams
5. Going for 6 – Heems, Lapgan, Sonnyjim, Abhi The Nomad
6. Baba Ganoush – Heems, Lapgan, Lee Scott, Cool Calm Pete
7. Obi Toppin (Darling) – Heems, Lapgan, Kool Keith
8. Kala Tika – Heems, Lapgan
9. Yellow Chakra – Heems, Lapgan, Sir Michael Rocks, Open Mike Eagle
10. Porches – Heems, Lapgan, Blu, Quelle Chris
11. Bukayo Saka – Heems, Lapgan
12. Yo Momma – Heems, Lapgan, Fatboi Sharif

Pre-order Lafander by Heems HERE