Less than two years removed from the release of his platinum-selling album The Heist, Macklemore is back with another project for the fans , but this time around he’s without his right hand man & producer Ryan Lewis for the first time since 2005. After weeks of promotion, Macklemore decides to come through today and release his new album Gemini.
Laced with 16 tracks in total, the follow up to 2005’s The Heist features guest appearances from Offset (“Willy Wonka”), Ke$ha, Skylar Grey, Lil Yachty, Donna Missal, Xperience, and more. Meanwhile, production is handled almost entirely by longtime friend Budo and up & coming producer Tyler Dopps.
Taking a less political stance with this album and going the more “fun” route, Macklemore had the following to say about Gemini:
“It's not extremely politically motivated or heavily subject- or concept-oriented. I think it's mostly the music that I wanted to hear. It's the music that I wanted to go get into my car and listen to. I wanted it to be fun." Macklemore says. "A lot of people have asked me, "So with all this stuff going on in the world right now, you must've had a lot a to write about." And my answer is "no." I think at this point if you're rooting for Donald Trump in any capacity, you are supporting a bigot and a racist and I question your own bigotry and your own racism. I don't need to go and preach to the choir anymore. Everybody knows what's going on. I'm not gonna sway somebody at this point. … I believe that music can be a form of resistance without having to hit the nail on the head in terms of subject matter. It can be something that uplifts, that makes you dance, that makes you cry, that makes you think. But I didn't feel like I needed to go super in-depth with the politics. It was just not where my heart was at. It felt contrived at the moment, and I stayed away from it.”
Available on iTunes, fans can stream the 16-track effort in its entirety via Apple Music. Hit play and let us know what you think.
Tracklist:
1.”Ain’t Gonna Die Tonight” Feat. Eric Nally
2.”Glorious” Feat. Skylar Grey
3.”Marmalade” Feat. Lil Yachty
4.”Willy Wonka” Feat. Offset
5.”Intentions” Feat. Dan Caplen
6.”Good Old Days” Feat. Kesha
7.”Levitate” Feat. Otieno Terry
8.”Firebreather” Feat. Reignwolf
9.”How to Play the Flute” Feat. King Draino
10.”Ten Million”
11.”Over It” Feat. Donna Missal
12.”Zara” Feat. Abir
13.”Corner Store” Feat. Dave B & Travis Thompson
14.”Miracle” Feat. Dan Caplen
15.”Church” Feat. Xperience
16.”Excavate” Feat. Saint Claire