Born Gaurav Nagpal, Lapgan (Nagpal backward) was raised in a Chicago suburb where his family found community among other South Asian immigrants. Like many first-generation Americans, he “grew up in two different worlds.” One at home, another in school. His parents spoke a fluid hybrid of Hindi and Punjabi and screened Bollywood classics while classmates talked MTV and the latest box office blockbusters. Lapgan appreciated both worlds and fondly recalls the annual visits to Delhi.

Fittingly, the roots of History were planted on a family trip to India. On the album, Lapgan reverently mines the sounds of the Indian subcontinent and recontextualizes them as progressive, deeply personal beat music. Born of emotional instinct and impassioned scholarship, the Indian-American producer’...