Jemini The Gifted One - Scars and Pain review

Jemini The Gifted One

Scars and Pain

Mercury Records

Hailing from the not-too-friendly woods of East New York, Brooklyn, Jemini The Gifted One's debut EP, Scars and Pain, is marked by slick production featuring plenty horns, heavy drums and an altering resonance of laconic connotations. Some remarkable production by Organized Konfusion's Prince Poetry, Buckwild, Rah Boogie and Fat Man favors the brazen and altering flow of Jemini, who throughout this opus, continuously displays that he isn't afraid to take chances.

Scars and Pain is consistent in giving the listener a view of the gritty street experience Jemini has attained in his years. So the focus here shouldn’t just be on his versatile delivery, but on his concise lyrics as well. On one of the most outstanding cuts, "Brooklyn Kids", over a fervid, haunting soundscape that literally creeps up your spine, Jemini flows: "Now everybody talking about the West Coast, yeah/The real wit' the

skill, but we was packing toast in the days bygone living wrong/living trife/Lo-Life and

Decepticons rolling through the night."

Still, this EP isn’t just tales from the hood sagas. On "Funk Soul Sensation," which features some fervid bass, Jemini lives up to his name with a somewhat schizophrenic flow, while a vocal snippet from Nice and Smooth's "Hip-Hop Junkies" adds extra spice to "Letcho'batyflo", which has the rapper reminding the ladies that "Jemini knows the things that your man don't know."

Overall, Scars and Pain, is a fine excursion into the life that one Brooklyn b-boy has lived, wherein lies the only problem. While the album displays dexterity, head-nodding beats and righteous lyricism, it still maintains an almost strictly East Coast vibe, which may not appeal to those west of the Mississippi. The EP's short length (7 tracks) may also be a problem for some, but with the amount of time Jemini has spent paying dues, we shouldn't mind waiting a little while for a full-length album.

- Cleon Alert

This review appeared in the June/July 1995 issue of One Nut

Three Stripes in Effect

Hip-Hop Helps Adidas Set Off New Spot

On September 24, the opening of the Adidas Concept shop in midtown Manhattan's Macy's, with a special appearance by hip-hop legends Run-DMC, lured 500 people to the world's largest department store. The event capped off a week-long celebration of free giveaways and fun. Sporting their trademark shell-top Adidas , the Kings from Queens dazzled the crowd with a 20-minute set that included performances of their classic hits "Peter Piper," "King of Rock" and "Here We Go."

Before wrapping things up, Run-DMC took off their kicks, raised them to teh crowd, and played their 1986 smash, "My Adidas." The standing-room-only crowd was also treated to a fashion show, featuring 24 of the finest amateur athletes in New York City, who modeled everything from soccer to street to basketball gear. The event, hosted by Bugsy from NYC's Hot 97 with DJ Enuff on the wheels, was a huge success for one-time sneaker king Adidas. "It was a wonderful response," said Valerie Delevante, PR manager for Adidas. "It was open to the public and that was important to us--to have no restrictions and to have all these people come out in celebration of Adidas."

- CLEON ALERT 

This article appeared in the December '99 issue of The Source

Mic Geronimo: Vendetta Music Review

Mic Geronimo
Vendetta
Blunt Recordings/TVT

Back in '95, Mic Geronimo served up a fine treat for purveyors of street life with his debut opus, The Natural. Eloquently covering everything from the swank euphoria of herbal tree consumption (memorably chanting 'I'm so high/You so high/I be gettin' money till the day that I die' on "Masta I.C.") to the oft-sullen trials of inner-city courtship ("Sharane") with overtly serene and straightforward rhymes that, while low on discord, spoke volumes to sleep-eyed denizens of AnyGhetto, USA.

Now a couple of years later, you're hyped around the release of Mic's follow-up offering, Vendetta. And upon listening to the album, it's a safe bet to say that you might be disappointed. There's Puff blasting his one-station, Bad Boy boombox all over your boy's neighborhood on the lyrically-gritty, but pop-ish "Nuthin' Move But The Money," while the uninspired "Unstoppable" and sluggish title cut, both could've left on the cutting room floor. Then too, the soundscape for Vendetta, with long-winded and simple drum patterns and catchy themes, are too designed for crossover appeal. Indeed, only the impassioned, Buckwild-produced "How You Been", which sees Mic deliver a heartfelt ("Pray alone inside a stone-cold confusion and weep/but only your touch can bring me to peace") tribute to his mother and the requisite, but still jaunty posse-cut "Usual Suspects" save the album from complete and utter repetition.

"Everybody want to be like Mic," boasts the hook on "Be Like Me". But Vendetta isn't as much Mic as it is an A&R's wet dream. It's all about the cheddar, but at what cost?

- Cleon Alert

The edited version of this review was published in the January 1998 issue of Rap Pages.