Heems Is Done Retiring

Welcome to Golden Dragon, a newsletter by Eric Diep about Asians in hip-hop and my takes on trending topics in AAPI pop culture. Golden Dragon is a rotation of interviews, reviews, news, critical perspectives, and random blogs about music I recommend.

• Outtakes from a November 2023 interview with Heems that helped shape my listening experience of Veena.

Last year, Heems showcased what he does best in an On the Radar freestyle. The reclusive rapper from Queens seized the opportunity to show off his wit and satire on hip-hop’s new No. 1 destination. When I interviewed Gabe P. for Billboard, I asked him why he wanted to feature Heems and other underrepresented Asians. He replied, “Why don’t they deserve that spotlight?” 

“A lot of people haven’t seen Heems in a while and me putting Heems on On the Radar was such a cool moment for a lot of fans because it was like, ‘Damn bro, it’s cool to see Heems back outside,’” Gabe P. said. “It’s just cool to see him on this type of platform that’s always going viral.”

Back outside after nearly a decade of not releasing music, Heems dropped Lafandar in February and followed with Veena in August. He previewed songs through Veena freestyles before, bringing fans to meaningful locations around New York like Jackson Heights, the Lower East Side, and the Punjabi Deli to show why they’re significant to his creative process today. “I don’t know if I identify with being an Indian-American rapper as much as I do a New Yorker who can rap,” he writes in one description. 

I talked to Heems about his identity last year while interviewing him for my essay, “How Asian Americans Found a Home In Hip-Hop”. He traced his musical growth as a former member of Das Racist, his solo work as Heems, Swet Shop Boys, and his current sound heard on Lafandar and Veena.

“I know with the Heems stuff, I started moving towards having the freedom to incorporate Indian samples and talk about the immigrant experience. Things are a little bit more serious like me being a 9/11 survivor and that experience of post-9/11 America,” he said. “With Swet Shop Boys, I went full tilt on the South Asian experience. And now, with the new stuff, it’s very much an amalgamation of all these different things. It is humor. It is bars. It talks about partition and generational trauma. But it’s also a side of me that I don’t think I’ve shown before, talking about healing, spirituality, or growing older or going through a breakup.”

Veena, named after his mother, is produced by Sid Vashi, with some additional production credits by Ram Dulari and Lapgan. It features Queens artists Pavvan and Ajji as well as Veena Music’s first signee Navz-47 who sings in the Tamil language. There are voicemail skits from Riz Ahmed, No Doubt's Tony Kanal, Arooj Aftab, Hasan Minhaj, Danny Pudi, and more, who all uplift Heems and hype him up on the release. Zoya Akhtar pushes him to “write that script.”

Heems doesn’t see himself as a torchbearer in the lineage of South Asian artists in hip-hop, even though some rappers would argue he is a blueprint for them. “I think the culture I came out of was these club parties in the ‘90s that were South Asian where you would go listen to Bollywood and Bhangra, but it would be mixed with hip-hop and R&B,” he said.

Heems explains local celebrity DJs would make mash-up CDs with Bhangra, hip-hop, R&B, and reggae. “They would mash them all up and they would go grocery store to grocery store and sell the CDs in there, and I would go in the ‘90s and buy these CDs,” he said. “Those were the local people I looked up to. If anything, I’m carrying the torch from them.”

When asked if South Asian and Asian cultures have influenced rap in any way, he mentioned the intersectionality between South Asian music and hip-hop, referencing early 2000s songs like the DJ Quik-produced “Addictive” by Truth Hurts featuring Rakim and Erick Sermon’s “React” featuring Redman which were key moments in sampling.

“I always felt a part of [hip-hop culture] because of the place and the way I grew up very much felt like a part of it,” Heems said. “In Queens, it is extremely diverse and you’re just around all different types of races…I felt like an outsider at times. But I’ve also been accepted by so many people I look up to at the end of the day, if you can spit, you can spit.”

Heems leans on the indie rap scene on Lafandar and Veena, rapping alongside Cool Calm Pete, Mr. Cheeks of the Lost Boyz, Your Old Droog, Kool Keith, Sir Michael Rocks, Open Mike Eagle, Blu, Quelle Chris, and more. “I found my community within rap,” he said.

Veena has moments of the classic Heemy I love. I got into him in 2011 after Das Racist hopped on the remix to Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire’s “The Last Huzzah.” “The worst rapper on this track, third coolest” is one of Heems’ most memorable bars. Back then, I was excited about Eat Pray Thug after listening to his mixtapes and he was in my rotation of blog-era artists along with The Cool Kids, Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren, Maffew Ragazino, and Ratking. The heartbreak song “Home” with Dev Hynes was weirdly calming for me.

“Ratatouille” reminds me of riding the M train home when I lived in Ridgewood as it crosses through Brooklyn and Queens, impressed by his capability of capturing the feeling of a borough through his music. “Rakhi” is the Punjabi drill song he debuted on On the Radar, and I salute him for doing something out of his usual range. Another favorite of mine is “Banshee,” named after the bikes you hear zooming around in your respective borough, because he slides on that beat, proclaiming “I’m so inspiring, I’m done retiring...I’m back!”

Veena is out now. You can stream it here.

“Manto” with Vijay Iyer and Sid Vashi

“Manto” references the partition literature figure S.H. Manto, channeling his straightforwardness and honesty in raps that are full of emotion. Heems explores inherited trauma and shares his love for the women who made sacrifices to raise him. “I’m just a product of partition” is hard to stomach when you know Heems is addressing the bloody partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. “I ask my dad why my grandma’s so quiet, I ask my mom why my grandma’s not smiling, I ask my therapist why I’m always wilding,” he raps in a rage-filled tone.

“Flowers” f/ Navz-47

Navz-47 is spitting!

“Bourdain” f/ Mr. Cheeks

Mr. Cheeks is still active in 2024, appearing in Queens-centric lineups and being one of Fat Joe’s surprise guests at his Apollo show this year. He does it for South Jamaica, kicking bars like he’s in a cypher with Heems. An unlikely duo that I need more of.

Rest in peace to two legends 🕊️