No, he didn't make the XXL list cuz he's kinda less new-ish than a bunch of other cats, but you need some GemStones in your life. Well, if you're into that kinda jewelry or whatever you can have that, too, but you really need the rapper formerly known as "G to the -emini".
Normally, famous rapper tag-a-longs suck pretty monstrously. Not here. GemStones to Lupe is no Tony Yayo (always love to shout him out!) to 50, Young Dro to T.I., D12 to Em, or Memphis Bleek to Jay. Dude's a ridiculous spitter and has a voice to boot. Reminds me of Tyler, for real. Not saying I'm Lupe or anything, though, swear! I ain't that nice ... yet.
He sings his cornrows out on Lupe's "Just Might Be OK", "He Say She Say", "Pressure", and "The Emperor's Soundtrack" on the debut Food & Liquor. So take away the early Fahrenheit mixtapes and the public's heard Gem for just as long as the other Chicagoan. But it wasn't until he got his own Fahrenheit 1/15, Part 5: Untamed Beast that everybody got to actually hear what he brought to the table lyrically. And it was something else.
But by the time you got to fully digest all the punchlines of the beast, The Cool came out with three more features and Part 6: The Testimony of GemStones dropped as well. And dude was completely different. Not that he was ever bad, per say, but he got inexplicably better. And this video of the intro of his second tape's intro pretty much explains it.
GemStones mixtapes -
And I gotta give you this super exclusive bonus GemStones cover. I promise on my life you can't find this anywhere else in the world.
