Heems is gearing up to release his first commercial solo LP after a string of self-released mixtapes. The first single off the upcoming album, Eat, Pray Thug, is the excellent track "Sometimes," in which the former Das Racist rapper meditates on his heritage and identity. He explains:
"'Sometimes' is about dualities, identity and the space between spaces. Like so many other people, as a first generation South Asian in the U.S. I often felt like I lived two lives, an Indian one and an American one. I lived, at once, in and between two spaces and outside them as well. On another level, I also often felt like in America I lived in the space between black and white. Dualities are normal though. As fun as rap is, I can't always feel happy. Sometimes I feel sad too. It also pays homage to hip-hop before me with cadences referencing both Nice and Smooth and Busta Rhymes."Listen to the track, above. Eat, Pray, Thug is out on March 10th.
[h/t Pitchfork]