| Lafandar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Heems and Lapgan | ||||
| Released | February 16, 2024 (2024-02-16) | |||
| Length | 33:33 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | Lapgan | |||
| Heems chronology | ||||
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| Lapgan chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Lafandar | ||||
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Lafandar is a collaborative studio album by American hip hop artistHeems and Indian-American producer Gaurav Nagpal, also known as Lapgan. It was released on February 16, 2024, through Veena Sounds andMass Appeal India.
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 projectHistory 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 byKool 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]
Pranav Trewn atStereogum awardedLafandar the accolade "album of the week", saying that the collaboration resulted in Heem's "most focused performance" since hisDas 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 seesLafandar 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]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stupid Dumb Illiterate" (withSid Sriram) |
| 2:18 |
| 2. | "I'm Pretty Cool" |
| 2:22 |
| 3. | "Sri Lanka" (withYour Old Droog) |
| 2:07 |
| 4. | "Accent" (withSaul Williams) |
| 2:29 |
| 5. | "Going for 6" (with Sonnyjim andAbhi the Nomad) |
| 3:16 |
| 6. | "Bab Ganoush" (with Lee Scott and Cool Calm Pete) |
| 3:46 |
| 7. | "Obi Toppin (Darling)" (withKool Keith) |
| 2:09 |
| 8. | "Kala Tika" |
| 2:41 |
| 9. | "Yellow Chakra" (with Sir Michael Rocks andOpen Mike Eagle) |
| 3:02 |
| 10. | "Porches" (withBlu andQuelle Chris) |
| 3:07 |
| 11. | "Bukayo Saka" |
| 2:36 |
| 12. | "Your Momma" (with Fatboi Sharif) |
| 3:40 |
| Total length: | 33:33 | ||