Review- Eat Pray Thug by Heems

Himanshu Suri, a.k.a. Heems, is a Queens, NY based rapper, best known for his work with Das Racist. As a group, they were very hit or miss, with a lot of the hit being with Heems at the helm. After releasing 2 mixtapes, Heems delivers his first studio album. This album, Eat Pray Thug, is rather confusing. It has tracks like “Flag Shopping”, “Al Q8a”, “Suicide By Cop”, and “Patriot Act” all of which tackle a very difficult subject, growing up and living in a post 9/11 New York City being Indian, as Heems did, in a visceral manner. In Flag Shopping, when Heems spits “They're staring at our turbans, They're calling them rags, They're calling them towels, They're calling them diapers” the message is clear and it hits the listener hard. Another example of this visceral message is the intensely and incredibly sarcastic chant of “USA USA” at the end of “Al Q8a.” These messages are off put though when a song like “Damn, Girl” hits, it's the boring, stereotypical rap song that Heems doesn't make. Another track, “Pop Song (Games)” has that same out of place feel. I've seen arguments that these songs were put in as a tongue-in-cheek joke by Heems, but it falls flat on its face if that's the case, and just feels like boring, bland filler. The production on the album is very bass heavy, and it can get boring. Some songs, like “Jawn Cage” and “Home” mix that up. Home contains what I haven't decided, is possibly the funniest or worst lyric on the album “Shorty, listen, quit your bitchin, Be my remix to ignition.” Although many songs feel out of place and the production is all very similar, this record is still enjoyable, and the tracks where Heems gets serious are not only some of the best songs I've heard from Heems, and some of the best I've heard this year in hip-hop. Hopefully on his next release Heems sticks to the more serious side of things and selects beats that don't all sound the same, and he will have a fantastic record on his hands. As for this record, I would give it a 6/10, as it is really an enjoyable album, it just has flaws that need to be, and can be, worked on.

Listen to the record here