Danger Mouse, Jemini The Gifted One - Born Again (2023) [Hi-Res]

Danger Mouse & Jemini's 2003 teamup Ghetto Pop Life was a breakthrough, but it was also a crossroads: it paired an MC whose dalliance with the fickle major-label machine in the mid '90s prepared him for a strong second wind as a survivor finding his audience in indie rap, and a largely-unknown, genre-agnostic beatmaker whose unconventionally psychedelic perspective would make him notorious a year later with the Jay-Z-goes-Beatles sample-clash The Grey Album. But while Danger Mouse went on to star-producer status through Gnarls Barkley and Gorillaz, Jemini was arrested on a narcotics charge shortly after Ghetto Pop Life's release, and his promising career was stifled. The what-could've-been scenario finally gets an answer in Born Again, their unearthed lost second album—or at least a significant portion of what it was intended to be. Recorded circa 2004, Born Again is compelling enough off Danger Mouse's beats, which are still a bit dusty compared to his later work. His characteristic ability to make opulent bangers out of baroque pop and prog-rock flourishes feels like a funhouse mirror version of what Kanye was concurrently doing with classic R&B. But the emotional heart of the album comes from the mic-holder. Jemini's an interesting case here. His declarative, emphatic golden age-honed style isn't all that esoteric by the era's indie-rap standards, but his energy level and conviction aren't ever in doubt. And compared to Ghetto Pop Life, and even in isolation, Born Again stands out by being more reflective and introspective. Jemini gets deep into his emotions, and when he breaks down the agonies of incarceration ("Locked Up") or the minefields of hood social politics ("Where You From") or just assesses his then-still-tenuous position in the rap game ("Brooklyn Bazquiat"), you can hear the passion of someone who knew he deserved his shot and had the insights to justify it.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Danger Mouse - All I (3:22)
1.02 - Danger Mouse - Locked Up (3:54)
1.03 - Danger Mouse - Me (4:05)
1.04 - Danger Mouse - Knuckle Sandwich II (1:27)
1.05 - Danger Mouse - Born Again (3:45)
1.06 - Danger Mouse - Brooklyn Bazquiat (3:51)
1.07 - Danger Mouse - Walk the Walk (4:11)
1.08 - Danger Mouse - Where You From (3:59)
1.09 - Danger Mouse - Dear Poppa (3:28)
1.10 - Danger Mouse - World Music (4:08)