Himanshu Suri, better known by his rap name Heems, has been a solo artist and a member of both rap groups Das Racist, who broke up in 2012, and Swet Shop Boys, who released their most recent EP, Sufi La in 2017. Though Heems hasn’t released a solo album since the excellent 2015 Eat Pray Thug, the Queens rapper was inspired to share a new song as a tribute to the late rapper MF Doom, who is being mourned by the hip-hop community on all sides.
News of the iconic rapper’s passing at age 49 broke on New Year’s Eve, though in a post on social media his wife, Jasmine, noted that Doom had “transitioned” back in October of 2020. In a short post on Instagram, Heems shared his own rap written to honor the fallen legend, captioning the post “wrote a rap for MF DOOM, RIP” while zooming in on a photo of Doom as he raps.
In paying tribute Heems joins plenty of peers like Yasiin Bey, who reposted a 2014 cover of the Madvillain song “All Caps,” and Open Mike Eagle, who also wrote an original song to express his sadness at the death of a friend and peer. Hear Heem’s tribute above.