& We're Back: Das Racist's Heems To Play Intimate Show In Delhi
11 December 2012
If you’re a Das Racist fan you’ll probably know all this by now, but to make things clear we’ve pieced together the fractured pieces of information that have been floating around the Internet over the last few weeks to give you the real deal…
Earlier this month, the Brooklyn based post-ironic rap group announced in a rather confusing way that they had broken up. At a gig in Germany, Heems (Himanshu Suri) performed a show on his own telling the audience: “You guys wanna know a secret? Alright, so I’m gonna do some Das Racist songs, but Das Racist is breaking up and we’re not a band anymore.”
This was later confirmed in a tweet from Kool A.D: “for the record I quit das racist 2 months ago and was asked by our manager not to announce it yet. Apparently @himanshu wanted to do it tho.”
Hype man Dapwell further clarified this by explaining to SPIN “I was bummed when we actually broke up, when it was done, mostly because it was a way to make money really easily. Now, I probably won’t be able to make money that easily ever again.”
So, now we’ve got that out in the open, it came to our knowledge that the newly single Heems has been kicking it back in Goa, so we thought it only apt to invite him to Delhi for a little gig.
Heems is known for being the ‘wacky’ frontman of Das Racist. Always getting attention for their contemporary and provocative take on political commentary, rubbing people up the wrong way, and generally saying what everyone secretly thinks.
2012 has seen Heems release his solo debut mixtape ‘Nehru Jackets’ on his own label Greedhead, a collaboration with producer and high school friend Mike Finito. In an interview with Rolling Stone he described it as being “more about who I am outside of the context of Das Racist or inside the context of New York. It’s still like a very Heems type of thing, still a lot of Indian samples. […] This time, the beats are a little laid back and the bars are aggressive.”
You can hear to his debut release in full here. A compelling listen with the mixtape echoing traces of Kanye and Ghostpoet without losing the sharp tirade of caustic social commentary and cynicism that we’ve come to expect.
His most recent release, ‘Wild Water Kindgdom’ is a vast 17 track affair featuring a raspy sounding Heems that has been well received by critics for his ability to both speak plainly and rap well. The standard bitter social commentary and anger is ever present in this well layered offering.
For now it is safe to say that all eyes are on Heems and his label Greedhead Music, tipped by international tastemakers The Fader as one of the labels to watch out for in coming years.
**Wild City will be hosting his Delhi gig at new GK hangout Cocaine on Wednesday 19 December with support from Delhi's Trap Crew: (Su-Real & Flash Hardcor). This promises to be an insane and rowdy show so come prepared to stay until the early hours. All hip-hop/Das Racist/electronica/RnB fans, this is a show that you cannot afford to miss. Capacity is limited so please arrive early to avoid disappointment**
For now, we lament, just a little over their iconic comic brashness in the interview below: