*Artist, musician and Compton, California native Gemaine is turning up R&B music to a new volume. His new single, “No Questions,” is a throwback to a previous age of romance and love songs. The 25-year-old singer/songwriter, who had viral success at 18 on TikTok predecessor Vine with his song “Freaky,” will be releasing his full-length debut album New Jack City sometime this spring- a collaborative project with super-producer DJ Charlie Heat, who has worked with Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert, Kehlani and Madonna.
The self-taught pianist, singer, songwriter and producer learned his considerable creative skills in one of the best schools on earth.
“Going to church and hearing the music that I’ve heard and at the level that they’ve played it, that was my teaching,” said Gemaine. “Being exposed to that and hearing it every Sunday and Wednesday, I was just being beat in the head with gospel music on a weekly basis, just naturally going to church for so many years, I just developed an ear for everything.”
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When asked who influenced him vocally and musically, he had a surprising answer.
“I listened to Kim Burrell, Kirk Franklin, The Clark Sisters, and The West Angeles Church Choir,” he said. Many of the musicians that played with those artists performed with each other, and Gemaine took it all in. A formidable drummer, Gemaine credits a list of drummers for his style, a few that grew up in his family.
“I drum a little bit,” he laughed, when asked about his drumming skills. “I’m not an Anderson Paak type drummer, but give me the sticks and I’ll hold it down for sure.” Gemaine listened to many drummers, but one of his biggest drum influences was his cousin, Nick Smith. “He was a real OG drummer,” he said of Nick and his family who grew up in church in Compton. “ I grew up listening to my cousins, and older brothers, Odie Brown, Nick Smith and my older brother Garren. They were all really really, good at the drums. We would always have these little drum sessions at church- other drummers would come over and it would be hours of shedding at the church, after church.” He also admired drummers Tony Royster Jr. and “Pooki,” a legendary drummer that played in the R&B and gospel ranks.
The informal training he received at church helped him to develop his sultry vocal style, who many believe is reminiscent of Al.B Sure and Bobby Brown. However, his single “No Questions,” featured on Los Angeles station Power 106 and slated as one of the “Best New R&B Songs of the Week” on Uproxx in January 2022, shows an individuality that’s quite unique than those iconic vocalists and performers.
Gemaine began singing publicly at the age of 18, when a video he recorded at a local Guitar Center and uploaded to the TikTok predecessor Vine, “Freaky,” transformed him into a viral sensation.
“I literally wasn’t even trying to be an artist at the time when I put it out, I just put it out,” he explained of the six-second clip on Tik Tok. “People were really on my head about making it a song. So I just really did it out of peer pressure. I never had any attention of being an artist. It was like ‘okay, whatever.’” After getting several accolades, including recognition on YouTube.com, Gemaine was convinced he had chops to be a recording artist. “Maybe this is where I belong,” he said of being a musical artist. “It made me feel like I have a purpose. I felt it was my calling and I can do this.” His first project “Curious,” expressed his musical identity. “I was just curious and in an experimental stage,” he said when asked why he named his first project “Curious.” “I started to figure out which direction I wanted to step into. Not only with music but within myself. ” During that time, at the age of 19, he moved to New York, and while there, he learned the nuances of what it was like to be an adult. “I was growing out of my teens and was stepping into a young adult life and being responsible and trying to figure out life and where I fit in,” he said. Before New York, he had a tumultuous life, sometimes transitory. He and members of his family sometimes were forced to live in motels.
“It was so messed up where I couldn’t put attention in the music,” he said. “So my manager (Justin Lamott) took it upon himself- he said ‘come out here (to New York), we’re going to figure it out – out here- we at least want to give you a chance to work on your music.’”
Since then his music has taken off, and it’s reminiscent of old school R&B. Murth, also known as “Ymtk” is a co-writer and collaborator on many of Gemaine’s tracks. Gemaine and Ymtk, who’s from the San Francisco Bay area, an established artist in his own right, are great friends that met while Gemaine was on a side hustle, driving for Lyft.
“I’m trying to leave the Standard (in downtown Los Angeles) and get a Lyft,” said Ymtk. “The Lyft driver is not in the right spot. He said ‘okay I see you, you’re an Asian guy in a business suit.’ I was like ‘Bro who is this guy?” During the ride, Gemaine was playing one of his tracks and Ymtk was immediately impressed. “It was incredible,” said Ymtk. “It had a real component of spirituality and the harmonies were big and had conviction.” However, Ymtk wasn’t so impressed with Gemaine’s driving. “As we’re getting on the freeway, this guy’s driving like a maniac,” he laughed. “I was trying to focus on the music, because the music was so incredible, I’m trying to focus on that, but at the same time I was like, yo, I’m going to die.”
When asked about the state of R&B in 2022, Gemaine was quite candid.
“We’re in an era where people are really out of touch with feelings,” said Gemaine. “People forgot that it’s okay to feel. There was a time and a period, where it was not looked down upon being proud of your girl. Maybe it’s coming back with Tik Tok- the couples- that’s the thing on Tik Tok, but we definitely aren’t there in the music aspect- it being okay to have feelings, especially as a guy to express yourself in a loving way. We’re lacking that. We’re lacking love in music.”
Gemaine has plans to open community centers in the future, and hopes his music will propel him to new heights. “I would love to give back and provide that for other people, because it helped me,” said Gemaine of community centers in his area that gave him direction as a youth. “They saved my life. I’d probably be gangbanging or doing something stupid.”
“No Questions,” inspired by a tweet Gemaine saw from Issa Rae, is a romantic song to remind men that “there’s nothing wrong with being soft-spoken and romantic with your girl.” His full-length debut “New Jack City,” is inspired by the pace and swagger of gangster films like the gritty 1991 thriller New Jack City. Gemaine produced two of the tracks for the project, which will be released sometime this spring. (You can preview the New Jack City project HERE on Soundcloud.)
Ymtk, meantime, loves working with him except for one thing.
“Sometimes I’m just going to hop in the driver’s seat, you feel me?” laughed Ymtk.
Follow Gemaine:
Gemaine (@JustGemaine) / Twitter
https://www.instagram.com/justgemaine
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