GEMINI

Although it is uneven and feels longer than its 60 minutes, Gemini is held together by Macklemore’s Everydudeness and a loose mixtape quality.

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.

He’s at his best on the playful hip-hop of Willy Wonka, Corner Store and Firebreather, a rare rap-rock tune with attitude.

With so many lows, Gemini can’t help but suffer. It’s a shame too because Macklemore crafted some genuinely good records without Lewis. He was onto something, but maybe he needed someone like Lewis to push back against those ill-advised ideas.

The public service I’m most grateful for here is his decision to highlight a glut of obscure singers and rappers, many from his native Seattle; scanning the guest list will lead you down a rabbit hole that can be more rewarding than the record itself.

Gemini ... is an album full of schlock that no one is asking us to pay attention to, and it signals that Macklemore wants, and deserves, to be left in peace.

His relentless, corny positivity could’ve made Gemini a slightly less successful take on the “you’re beautiful the way you are” rap of Logic, Lil Yachty, and even Joey Bada$$, but the rapper’s sentimentality and kitchen-sink production ethos land the record alongside Katy Perry’s Witness in the post-Hamilton bargain bin.

Macklemore drops his worst album.