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Gemini (Macklemore album)

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Gemini is the second solo studio album by American rapper Macklemore. It was released on September 22, 2017, via Bendo & distributed by Warner Music. The first album he released without producer Ryan Lewis since his 2005 solo effort The Language of My World, Gemini is devoid of any political subject matter.

Gemini
Studio album by
Macklemore
ReleasedSeptember 22, 2017 (2017-09-22)
Studio
  • Macklemore's home studio (Seattle, Washington)
  • The Gift Shop (Los Angeles, California)
GenrePop-rap[1]
Length60:19
Label
Producer
Macklemore chronology
The Unplanned Mixtape
(2009) 		Gemini
(2017) 		Ben
(2023)
Macklemore album chronology
The Language of My World
(2005) 		Gemini
(2017) 		Ben
(2023)
Singles from Gemini
  1. "Glorious"
    Released: June 15, 2017
  2. "Marmalade"
    Released: July 26, 2017
  3. "Good Old Days"
    Released: September 19, 2017

The album was supported by three singles, "Glorious", "Marmalade" and "Good Old Days". It received generally mixed reviews from critics.

Background

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Gemini marks Macklemore's second solo studio album. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Macklemore said of the album: "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."[2] He told Beats 1 radio host Zane Lowe about his new approach for this album: "I always try to get a different palette of sounds and textures and vibes. This album, I was in a good place man. There's some darker songs, for sure, but for the most part, if I'm in a happy place and life is good, that's going to be reflected in the music."

On August 22, 2017, Macklemore unveiled the album's track list and cover art.[3][4][5] He released a video teaser of the song "Willy Wonka", a collaboration with Offset, on September 8, 2017.[6] It features behind-the-scenes footage of the recording process.[7][8]

Singles

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"Glorious" was released as the lead single from the album on June 15, 2017. It features a guest appearance from American singer Skylar Grey.[9] Its music video was released on July 6, 2017, in which Macklemore was seen traveling around Modesto, California with his grandmother.[10]

The second single from the album, "Marmalade", was released on July 26, 2017. It features a guest appearance from American rapper Lil Yachty.[11]

The collaboration with American singer-songwriter Kesha, "Good Old Days" was released as a promotional single from the album on September 19, 2017.[12] It was sent to adult contemporary radio October 9, 2017, as the album's third single.[13]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic63/100[14]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [15]
The A.V. ClubC[16]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[17]
Evening Standard     [18]
HipHopDX2.9/5[19]
Pitchfork5.4/10[20]
Rolling Stone     [21]
Spectrum Culture2.75/5[22]

Gemini received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 63, based on 8 reviews.[14] Neil Yeung of AllMusic said, "While some fans might prefer Macklemore with Lewis, Gemini is a reminder that before the multi-platinum singles, hit albums, and thrift shop threads, he could handle himself just fine."[15] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone said, "Macklemore's first post-fame LP minus longtime partner Ryan Lewis finds the Seattle MC unburdened by stardom or the social concern that turns his woke anthems into online firestorms."[21]

Chuck Arnold of Entertainment Weekly gave note of the unevenness and length through the track listing but commended Macklemore for keeping it together with his personality and giving the project a "loose mixtape quality."[17] Clayton Purdom of The A.V. Club criticized the use of "drop-out catchphrases [and] horn solos and minutes-long American Idol-style belting," along with Macklemore's "earnest neediness" in his delivery, concluding that "the rapper's sentimentality and kitchen-sink production ethos land the record alongside Katy Perry's Witness in the post-Hamilton bargain bin."[16]

Track listing

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Gemini track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Ain't Gonna Die Tonight" (featuring Eric Nally)
Macklemore3:34
2."Glorious" (featuring Skylar Grey)
3:40
3."Marmalade" (featuring Lil Yachty)
  • Budo
  • Dopps
4:24
4."Willy Wonka" (featuring Offset)
  • Budo
  • Dopps
  • Macklemore
3:42
5."Intentions" (featuring Dan Caplen)
  • Budo
  • Dopps
  • Macklemore
3:50
6."Good Old Days" (featuring Kesha)
Budo4:00
7."Levitate" (featuring Otieno Terry)
  • Haggerty
  • Karp
  • Andrews
  • Rawlings
  • Otieno Terry
  • Macklemore
  • Budo
3:32
8."Firebreather" (featuring Reignwolf)
  • Haggerty
  • Karp
  • Andrews
  • Rawlings
Budo3:25
9."How to Play the Flute" (featuring King Draino)
  • Haggerty
  • Dopps
  • Andrews
Dopps3:28
10."Ten Million"
  • Haggerty
  • Karp
  • Dopps
  • Andrews
  • Budo
  • Dopps
2:59
11."Over It" (featuring Donna Missal)
  • Haggerty
  • Dopps
  • Karp
  • Rawlings
  • Andrews
  • Kristine Flaherty
  • Caplen
  • Donna Missal
  • Samuel Ahana
  • Swish
  • Macklemore
  • Budo
  • Dopps
3:38
12."Zara" (featuring Abir)
  • Haggerty
  • Dopps
  • Andrews
  • Eric Keith
  • Abir
Dopps3:37
13."Corner Store" (featuring Dave B and Travis Thompson)
  • Haggerty
  • Jacob Dutton
  • Wishkoski
  • Dopps
  • Karp
  • David Bowman
  • Travis Thompson
4:33
14."Miracle" (featuring Dan Caplen)
  • Haggerty
  • Karp
  • Dopps
  • Andrews
  • Caplen
  • Andrew Joslyn
  • Dopps
  • Budo
3:44
15."Church" (featuring Xperience)
  • Haggerty
  • Karp
  • Andrews
  • Budo
  • Macklemore
4:10
16."Excavate" (featuring Saint Claire)
  • Haggerty
  • Karp
  • Andrews
  • John Sinclair
Budo3:56
Total length:60:09

Notes

  • "Glorious" features background vocals from Adam Aejaye Jackson, Will Wheaton, Oren Waters, Valerie Pinkston, Bridgett Bryant, Niomisha Renee Wilson, Harrison White, and Brenda McClure; and additional vocals from Donna Missal.
  • "Firebreather" features background vocals from Grace Love and Tyler Andrews.
  • "How to Play the Flute", "Corner Store", and "Excavate" feature background vocals from Tyler Andrews.
  • "Church" features additional vocals from Jerome Welch.

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for Gemini
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[51] Gold 35,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[52] Gold 40,000‡
France (SNEP)[53] Gold 50,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[54] Gold 25,000‡
United States (RIAA)[55] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Gemini Tour

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Gemini
Tour by Macklemore
Start dateOctober 6, 2017 (2017-10-06)
End dateMay 6, 2018 (2018-05-06)
Legs3
No. of shows57

Setlist

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  1. "Ain't Gonna Die Tonight"
  2. "Firebreather"
  3. "Marmalade"
  4. "Thrift Shop"
  5. "White Walls"
  6. "Same Love"
  7. "Donald Trump"
  8. "Willy Wonka"
  9. "Drug Dealer"
  10. "Intentions"
  11. "Corner Store"
  12. "Levitate"
  13. "Dance Off"
  14. "Can't Hold Us"
  15. "Good Old Days"
  16. "Excavate"
  17. "Downtown"
  18. "Glorious"

Tour dates

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List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue
Dates
North America
October 6, 2017 Portland United States Roseland Theater
October 7, 2017
October 8, 2017 Eugene McDonald Theatre
October 11, 2017 San Francisco The Warfield
October 12, 2017 Los Angeles Wiltern Theatre
October 14, 2017 Tempe Marquee Theatre
October 15, 2017 Albuquerque El Rey Theater
October 17, 2017 Dallas House of Blues
October 18, 2017 Houston
October 19, 2017 Austin Emo's
October 20, 2017
October 29, 2017 Nashville War Memorial Auditorium
November 2, 2017 St. Paul Palace Theatre
November 3, 2017 Milwaukee The Rave
November 4, 2017 Chicago House of Blues
November 5, 2017 Detroit The Fillmore
November 7, 2017 Pittsburgh Stage AE
November 8, 2017 Toronto Canada Rebel
November 10, 2017 New York City United States Terminal 5
November 11, 2017 Silver Spring The Fillmore
November 13, 2017 Philadelphia The Fillmore
November 15, 2017 Boston House of Blues
December 22, 2017 Seattle KeyArena
December 23, 2017
Oceania
February 2, 2018 Brisbane Australia Riverstage
February 3, 2018 Sydney Hordern Pavilion
February 4, 2018
February 6, 2018 Melbourne Festival Hall
February 7, 2018
February 9, 2018 Auckland New Zealand Spark Arena
February 10, 2018 Wellington TSB Bank Arena
February 11, 2018 Sydney Australia Hordern Pavilion
Europe
March 30, 2018 Manchester England Victoria Warehouse
March 31, 2018 Glasgow Scotland O2 Academy
April 3, 2018 Dublin Ireland 3Arena
April 4, 2018
April 6, 2018 London England O2 Academy
April 7, 2018
April 8, 2018 Birmingham O2 Academy
April 10, 2018 Esch-sur-Alzette Luxembourg Rockhal
April 11, 2018 Brussels Belgium Forest National
April 13, 2018 Paris France Zénith
April 14, 2018
April 15, 2018 Amsterdam Netherlands AFAS Live
April 17, 2018 Oberhausen Germany Turbinenhalle
April 19, 2018 Munich Zenith
April 20, 2018 Zürich Switzerland Samsung Hall
April 21, 2018 Milan Italy Fabrique
April 22, 2018
April 24, 2018 Vienna Austria Gasometer
April 26, 2018 Warsaw Poland Hala Torwar
April 27, 2018 Berlin Germany Columbiahalle
April 28, 2018 Hamburg Sporthalle
May 1, 2018 Cologne Palladium
May 2, 2018
May 3, 2018 Offenbach am Main Stadthalle
May 6, 2018 Stockholm Sweden Hala Torwar

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Stephen Kearse (September 22, 2017). "Mackelmore Attempts Pop Rap But Makes Another Unruly Mess". Complex Networks. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  2. ^ Christopher, Weingarten (September 14, 2017). "Macklemore Talks 'Gemini,' His Upcoming Career Reset Without Ryan Lewis". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  3. ^ Peter, Berry (August 22, 2017). "Here's the Cover and Tracklist for Macklemore's 'Gemini' Album". XXL. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  4. ^ Carl, Lamarre (August 22, 2017). "Macklemore Announces 'Gemini' Album With Features From Lil Yachty, Kesha & Skylar Grey". Billboard. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  5. ^ Winston, Cook-Wilson (August 22, 2017). "Macklemore Announces New Solo Album Gemini Featuring Kesha, Offset, Lil Yachty, and More". Spin. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  6. ^ C. Vernon, Coleman II (September 10, 2017). "Macklemore Previews New Offset Collab "Willy Wonka"". XXL. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  7. ^ Kevin, Goddard (September 8, 2017). "Macklemore Previews Upcoming Offset Collaboration "Willy Wonka"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  8. ^ "Macklemore Previews Offset Collaboration 'Willy Wonka'". Rap-Up. September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  9. ^ Gaca, Anna (June 15, 2017). "Macklemore Releases New Song "Glorious" Off First "Solo" Album in 12 Years". Spin. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  10. ^ Moniuszko, Sara M (July 7, 2017). "Macklemore marks his grandma's 100th birthday with 'Glorious' video". USA Today. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  11. ^ "New Music: Macklemore feat. Lil Yachty – 'Marmalade'". Rap-Up. July 26, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  12. ^ "New Music: Macklemore feat. Kesha – 'Good Old Days'". Rap-Up. September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  13. ^ "Hot/Modern/AC Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Gemini by Macklemore". Metacritic. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Yeung, Neil Z. "Gemini – Macklemore". AllMusic. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  16. ^ a b Purdom, Clayton. "Macklemore is at his least hateable on Gemini". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Arnold, Chuck. "Macklemore goes back to his solo career with the uneven Gemini". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  18. ^ Andre Paine (September 22, 2017). "Macklemore - Gemini, review". Evening Standard.
  19. ^ Justin Ivey (October 3, 2017). "Review: Macklemore's Disjointed Direction Hinders "Gemini"". HipHopDX.
  20. ^ Bromwich, Jonah. "Macklemore: Gemini". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  21. ^ a b Dolan, Jon. "Review: Macklemore Eschews Deep Thoughts for a Good Time on Gemini". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  22. ^ Daniel Bromfield (October 2, 2017). "The only thing Macklemore's not self-aware of is his self-awareness". Spectrum Culture. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017.
  23. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  24. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Macklemore – Gemini" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  25. ^ "Ultratop.be – Macklemore – Gemini" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  26. ^ "Ultratop.be – Macklemore – Gemini" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  27. ^ "Macklemore Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  28. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 39.Týden 2017 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  29. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  30. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Macklemore – Gemini" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  31. ^ "Macklemore: Gemini" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  32. ^ "Lescharts.com – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  33. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Macklemore – Gemini" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  34. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Macklemore". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  35. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  36. ^ "Charts.nz – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  37. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  38. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  39. ^ "Top 100 Slovak Albums". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  40. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  41. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  42. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Macklemore – Gemini". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  43. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  44. ^ "Macklemore Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  45. ^ "Macklemore Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  46. ^ "Macklemore Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  47. ^ "ARIA End of Year Albums 2017". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  48. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2017" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  49. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  50. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2018" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  51. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2019 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  52. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Macklemore – Gemini". Music Canada. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  53. ^ "French album certifications – Macklemore – Gemini" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  54. ^ "Italian album certifications – Macklemore – Gemini" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved July 27, 2020. Select "2020" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Gemini" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  55. ^ "American album certifications – Macklemore – Gemini". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
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