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Himanshu Kumar Suri (born July 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Heems, is an American
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
from
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Best known for being part of the
alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confo ...
group Das Racist, Suri is also the founder of
Greedhead Music Greedhead Music is an independent record label founded by Himanshu Suri of Das Racist. Initially, Suri founded Greedhead Music as a management and recording company in 2008 to manage Das Racist. Greedhead's first releases were the group's 2010 mix ...
, an independent record label. In 2012, Suri released his first solo mixtape, '' Nehru Jackets'', on his Greedhead imprint and in conjunction with SEVA NY, a community-based organization from Queens of which Suri is a board member. In August 2015, Heems announced that Fox had bought his story rights for a potential sitcom, and that he was working on the pilot. He is currently a member of
Swet Shop Boys Swet Shop Boys is a hip hop group, consisting of rappers Heems and Riz MC, with producer Redinho. History Originally formed by Heems Himanshu Kumar Suri (born July 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Heems, is an American rapper from ...
along with actor and rapper
Riz MC Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the shor ...
and producer
Redinho Tom Calvert, better known by his stage name Redinho, is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and producer from London. Calvert produced Swet Shop Boys' debut album ''Cashmere'' and ''Sufi LA'', and performed with them on The Late Show wi ...
.


Early life

Born and raised in Bellerose, Queens, New York, Suri graduated from
Stuyvesant High School , motto_translation = For knowledge and wisdom , address = 345 Chambers Street , city = New York , state = New York , zipcode = 10282 , country ...
in 2003, where he was the vice president of the student council when the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
happened two blocks away. Suri then attended
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...
, where he studied economics. After graduating from Wesleyan, Suri moved back to New York where he worked in the financial sector until finding success with Das Racist. He is of
Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
-
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
descent.


Das Racist

In 2008, Suri formed Das Racist with his college friend Victor Vazquez, known professionally as
Kool A.D. Victor Vazquez (born November 16, 1983), also known by his stage name Kool A.D., is an American rapper, record producer, author, and artist. He is from the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Vazquez is best known for being a member of the New ...
Shortly thereafter, Suri's high school friend Ashok Kondabolu joined as their hype man. Das Racist first found success on the internet with their 2008 song "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell", and then quickly established themselves within the underground rap scene with their 2010 mixtapes '' Shut Up, Dude'' and '' Sit Down, Man'', both of which earned them critical acclaim, including ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
''s designation of "Best New Music" as well as spawning tours across North America, Europe and Asia.


Solo career

While still with Das Racist, Suri released his first two mixtapes - ''Nehru Jackets'' and ''Wild Water Kingdom.'' After the break up of Das Racist at the end of 2012, Suri moved to Bombay to work on his first official album. In April 2014, he recorded for a commercial for Vitamin Water in Japan. In January 2012, Suri released his first solo mixtape, '' Nehru Jackets,'' on his own
Greedhead Greedhead Music is an independent record label founded by Himanshu Suri of Das Racist. Initially, Suri founded Greedhead Music as a management and recording company in 2008 to manage Das Racist. Greedhead's first releases were the group's 2010 mix ...
imprint. ''Nehru Jackets'' was released in collaboration with SEVA NY. Guests on ''Nehru Jackets'' include Despot, Danny Brown, and
Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glov ...
. The album has received positive reviews, including a score of 8/10 from ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...
''. Heems's second mixtape, '' Wild Water Kingdom,'' was released on November 14, 2012, also on the Greedhead label. It features production from Harry Fraud, Keyboard Kid,
Crookers Crookers is the musical project of Italian DJ and producer Francesco "Phra" Barbaglia. Crookers was originally a duo consisting of Phra and fellow producer Bot, who worked together from 2003 to 2012. When the two artists met, both were trying to ...
, Beautiful Lou, Le1f, and
Lushlife Raj Haldar (born August 1, 1981), better known by his stage name Lushlife, is an American rapper and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the co-author of '' P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever''. He is one half ...
. Guests on ''Wild Water Kingdom'' include Childish Gambino and Lakutis. His debut solo album, '' Eat Pray Thug,'' was released on March 10, 2015, on Greedhead/ Megaforce Records. The album was recorded in Bombay and Brooklyn and includes collaborations with Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange),
Rafiq Bhatia Rafiq Bhatia (born 21 August 1987) is an American musician, composer, guitarist, and producer. He is the guitarist and fellow producer of the American experimental rock band Son Lux, having been a touring member prior. As a solo artist, he has r ...
, Gordon Voidwell, Boody B, and Harry Fraud. Heems has referred to the album as "9/11 and Heartbreak." The first single, "Sometimes," was released on January 8, 2015.


Greedhead Music

To manage Das Racist, Suri founded his own record label,
Greedhead Music Greedhead Music is an independent record label founded by Himanshu Suri of Das Racist. Initially, Suri founded Greedhead Music as a management and recording company in 2008 to manage Das Racist. Greedhead's first releases were the group's 2010 mix ...
, as a management and recording company in 2008. Greedhead's first releases were the group's 2010 mixtapes. Das Racist's first commercially available album, ''
Relax Relax may refer to: Aviation * Roland Z-120 Relax, a German ultralight aircraft design for the 120 kg class Music Albums * ''Relax'' (Blank & Jones album), 2003 * ''Relax'' (Das Racist album), 2011 Songs * "Relax" (song), a 1983 song by Fran ...
'', was also the first commercial release on the Greedhead imprint. Greedhead has since released solo mixtapes by Kool A.D. ('' The Palm Wine Drinkard'') and Heems ('' Nehru Jackets''), as well as Keepaway's ''Black Flute'', Lakutis' ''I'm in the Forest'', Le1f's ''Dark York'', and Big Baby Gandhi's ''Big Fucking Baby''.


Activism

Suri has been a vocal advocate of the
South Asian South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
community in New York. In January 2012, Suri joined the board of directors of the Queens-based community organization SEVA. Suri plans to work with SEVA to develop a community center with a recording studio for local youth. Suri has worked extensively with SEVA to push for more equitable redistricting in Queens. Suri has publicly supported
Reshma Saujani Reshma Saujani (born November 18, 1975) is an American lawyer, politician, civil servant, and the founder of the nonprofit organization Girls Who Code, which aims to increase the number of women in computer science and close the gender employment ...
's bid for
New York City Public Advocate The office of New York City Public Advocate (President of the City Council) is a citywide elected position in New York City, which is first in line to succeed the mayor. The office serves as a direct link between the electorate and city government ...
, saying, "We will probably have the highest South Asian voter turnout ever this year because of her on the ballot and the resources she will be putting in it. This is the most qualified and well resourced candidate from the outh Asiancommunity ever."


Art

In addition to his musical career, Suri also maintains a longstanding relationship with the art scene, especially in New York City. In 2010, Das Racist performed as a part of the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
's Biennial celebration, curated by California artist
Martin Kersels Martin Kersels (born 1960) is an American contemporary artist. Kersels' work is largely installation based, incorporating sculpture, photography and video. Kersels is a professor of sculpture and director of graduate studies at the Yale School of ...
. In April 2013, Suri returned to the Whitney as part of the ''Blues for Smoke'' exhibit, an interdisciplinary exhibition that explored "a wide range of contemporary art through the lens of the blues and blues aesthetics." He performed alongside former Das Racist member Ashok Kondabolu (Dapwell),
Greedhead Greedhead Music is an independent record label founded by Himanshu Suri of Das Racist. Initially, Suri founded Greedhead Music as a management and recording company in 2008 to manage Das Racist. Greedhead's first releases were the group's 2010 mix ...
rapper Le1f, and psych-dance band
Prince Rama Prince Rama (previously Prince Rama of Ayodhya) was a two-piece "now age" psych-dance band based in Brooklyn, New York, founded by sisters Taraka Larson and Nimai Larson. Discovered by Animal Collective's Avey Tare in a Texas dive bar in 2010, ...
. In February 2015, Heems curated an art exhibition at the Aicon Gallery in anticipation of his new album, '' Eat Pray Thug''. The exhibition contained a wide variety of South Asian artists as well as events and performances throughout its month-long run, including artists such as
The Kominas The Kominas are a punk rock band formed in 2005 by two Pakistani-Americans from Worcester, Massachusetts. In over ten years, the band has experienced a number of line-up changes and self-released albums. Musical style Their dance-oriented s ...
,
Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...
(Riz MC), and Heems himself.


Film

In 2012, Suri joined an all-star cast of New York musicians in Amrit Singh's documentary short, ''Dosa Hunt'', on a quest to find the best dosa (a traditional South Indian dish) in town. In 2013, Heems made his
acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...
debut along with R&B artist
Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...
in "Brazzaville Teen-Ager," a
short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
which starred and was written and directed by
Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears'' and portraying a young Chuck B ...
. In 2015, he played a supporting role as rascally ad agency employee named Reny in Benjamin Dickinson's ''Creative Control'', which premiered at SXSW 2015, where Heems also performed. Suri starred in Tanuj Chopra's 2016 film ''Chee and T'', which premiered at the
LA Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, epis ...
.


Twitter

Suri has also received attention for his activity on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. In the aftermath of the
death of Osama bin Laden On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot several times and killed at his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Spe ...
, Suri collected and retweeted racist tweets, drawing attention to the prevalence of xenophobia and Islamophobia in the celebratory national mood. In January 2011, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine named Suri #11 on its list of "50 Top Tweeters in Music".


Discography


Studio albums

* '' Eat Pray Thug'' (2015)


Mixtapes

* '' Nehru Jackets'' (2012) * '' Wild Water Kingdom'' (2012)


Guest appearances

* Small Black - "Two Rivers" and "Sunday Son" from ''Moon Killer'' (2011) *
Lushlife Raj Haldar (born August 1, 1981), better known by his stage name Lushlife, is an American rapper and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the co-author of '' P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever''. He is one half ...
- "Hale-Bopp Was the Bedouins" from '' Plateau Vision'' (2012) *
Meyhem Lauren Meyhem Lauren (born May 14, 1983) is an American rapper from Queens, New York. He is a founding member of the Smart Crew collective. He has collaborated with the likes of DJ Muggs, Alchemist, and Harry Fraud. He stars in ''Fuck, That's Delicious' ...
- "Special Effects" and "Juevos Rancheros" from ''Respect the Fly Shit'' (2012) * Meyhem Lauren - "Carvel" from ''Mandatory Brunch Meetings'' (2012) * Weekend Money - "Yellow" from ''Naked City'' (2012) * Hot Sugar - "56k" from ''Midi Murder'' (2012) * Hot Sugar - "Born 2" from ''Made Man'' (2013) * Misteur Valaire - "Life Gets Brutal" from ''Bellevue'' (2013) * Maffew Ragazino - "Jackson Pollock" from ''Brownsville's Jesus'' (2014) *
Antwon Antonio Williams (born October 25, 1986), better known by his stage name Antwon, is an American rapper based in San Jose, California. In 2013, he was included on '' Complex''s "15 Unsigned Rappers Who Should Get a Deal After SXSW" list. He was al ...
- "KLF ELF" from '' Heavy Hearted in Doldrums'' (2014) * Meyhem Lauren & Buckwild - "Narcotics Anonymous" from ''Silk Pyramids'' (2014) *
Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...
- "Step (Wintertime Remix)" (2014) * Nick Catchdubs - "Full House" from ''Smoke Machine'' (2015) * Sonnyjim - "Al Jazeera" from ''Mud in My Malbec'' (2016) *
Your Old Droog Dmitry Kutsenko, better known as Your Old Droog, is a Ukrainian-born American rapper and producer from Brooklyn, New York. He first gained public attention in June 2014 when online rumors were circulated that his self-published debut EP was act ...
- "Bangladesh" from '' Packs'' (2017) * Your Old Droog - "The Simpsons" from ''Yodney Dangerfield'' (2022)


See also

*
Indians in the New York City metropolitan region Indians in the New York City metropolitan area constitute one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnicities in the New York City metropolitan area of the United States. The New York City region is home to the largest and most prominent Indian ...


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Living people 1985 births People from Queens, New York Rappers from New York City American people of Punjabi descent American male singers of Indian descent American rappers of Asian descent Stuyvesant High School alumni Wesleyan University alumni 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians