Lafandar

Lafandar is a collaborative studio album by American hip hop artist Heems and Indian-American producer Gaurav Nagpal, also known as Lapgan. It was released on February 16, 2024, through Veena Sounds and Mass Appeal India.

Lafandar
Studio album by Heems and Lapgan
Released	February 16, 2024 (2024-02-16)
Length	33:33
Label	Veena Mass Appeal India
Producer	Lapgan
Heems chronology
Eat Pray Thug (2015) Lafandar (2024) Veena (2024)
Lapgan chronology
History (2023) Lafandar (2024)
Singles from Lafandar
"Accent" Released: January 23, 2024 "Sri Lanka" Released: February 6, 2024

Background

Following a six-year break from music, Lafandar sees a return for the rapper under his newly found label Veena Sounds.^[1] The album is a collaboration project with Indian-American producer Lapgan, whose project History previously marked the first release on the label.^[2] The producer incorporated various "cinematic South Asian samples" on the record that are set to compliment Heems' trademark "laugh-out-loud wit".^[3]

Lafandar features guest appearances by Kool Keith, Open Mike Eagle, Quelle Chris, Your Old Droog, Saul Williams, Blu, Sid Sriram, and Sonnyjim.^[4] On January 23, 2024, the rapper announced the album alongside the release of the lead single "Accent" featuring Williams.^[5] On February 6, the rapper released the second single "Sri Lanka", a collaboration with Your Old Droog that sees them trading "punchlines".^[6]

Critical reception

Pranav Trewn at Stereogum awarded Lafandar the accolade "album of the week", saying that the collaboration resulted in Heem's "most focused performance" since his Das Racist days. The rapper is not "sending up the genre" but brings "it back down to earth" and, as a result, delivers "the ideal" record he had been striving for "since 2008". Trewn sees Lafandar as "a landmark in the growing wave of Indo-Western hip-hop" as well as a "quintessential New York rap album". The editor also cites a broad soundscape with songs that "draw from across continents" as a work born from "requisite ambition", praising the production by Lapgan in particular.^[7]

Track listing

Lafandar track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Stupid Dumb Illiterate" (with Sid Sriram)	Heems Lapgan Sid Sriram	2:18
2.	"I'm Pretty Cool"	Heems Lapgan	2:22
3.	"Sri Lanka" (with Your Old Droog)	Heems Lapgan Your Old Droog	2:07
4.	"Accent" (with Saul Williams)	Heems Lapgan Saul Williams	2:29
5.	"Going for 6" (with Sonnyjim and Abhi the Nomad)	Heems Lapgan Sonnyjim Abhi the Nomad	3:16
6.	"Bab Ganoush" (with Lee Scott and Cool Calm Pete)	Heems Lapgan Lee Scott Cool Calm Pete	3:46
7.	"Obi Toppin (Darling)" (with Kool Keith)	Heems Lapgan Kool Keith	2:09
8.	"Kala Tika"	Heems Lapgan	2:41
9.	"Yellow Chakra" (with Sir Michael Rocks and Open Mike Eagle)	Heems Lapgan Sir Michael Rocks Open Mike Eagle	3:02
10.	"Porches" (with Blu and Quelle Chris)	Heems LapganBlu Quelle Chris	3:07
11.	"Bukayo Saka"	Heems Lapgan	2:36
12.	"Your Momma" (with Fatboi Sharif)	Heems Lapgan Fatboi Sharif	3:40
Total length:			33:33

Personnel

• Heems – vocals
• Lapgan – production, programming
• Ryan Rajagopal – mastering
• Daniel Lynas – mixing