Album Review: "Blind Elephant" by Gemstones

  If you've followed my blog, you'll know I called Gemstones the best Christian rapper. (Or rapper who is a Christian, whatever floats your boat.) Obviously, I was hyped for this album. For those of you who don't know, Demarco Castle, a.k.a Gemstones, has been around for while. He used to be on Lupe Fiasco's label, releasing multiple solid mixtapes. Gemstones, due to some personal reasons including the death of a close friend, stepped away from the music industry. He returned with two more mixtapes, shifting the focus of his subject matter more towards God. If you want to check out his mixtapes, I suggest Untamed Beast, and Elephant in the Room.

  Anyway, onto Blind Elephant. The album has been delayed twice, which caused me some concern. Was it worth the wait? In my opinion, yes. Gemstones delivers again! The album opens with "Quick Go In", which serves as an introduction for those unfamiliar with Gemstones' lyrical genius. Next, "Believe" showcases Gemstones' singing ability.

  To address those who fear the album being too judgmental, Gemstones does a great job of not excluding himself in the critiques. The best example of this is on "Temple." The song starts with a verse about Gemstones walking into Church, feeling saved, then falling into bad habits the very next day. Opening the song like that lends the rest of the song a togetherness of sorts. In other words, we're all in the same boat, let's try to figure it out together.

  I do have some nitpicks about the album. The smallest one being on "Lyrical Miracle." When the producer says their name at the end of the track, it kills what momentum it picked up for me. I had a couple nitpicks with the lyrics at some points. Throughout three quarters of the album, there is some of the best lyricism of the year, which really is what this album is all about. In spite of that, I was taken off guard on "New World" when he talks about the Illuminati, and "Reptilians are real although though I've never seen 'em shift, I got a friend who did." This took me right out of the song, with the shame being it's probably the best produced song on the album.

  Those were just small problems I had, and it doesn't take away from the rest of the album. The best tracks will probably make a showing on my year end lists. If you're a fan of Christian hip-hop, this is a must have. If you normally don't listen to Christian Hip-hop, I strongly suggest you check it out anyway. This album is really close to To Pimp a Butterfly in the competition for my favorite rap albums of the year. In terms of Christian rap albums, this is the best album since last years slept on 13th Floor  by the extremely underrated The Rep. 

  I give Blind Elephant a 9/10, and a definite recommendation. When you give it a listen, let me know what you think.