Chicago rapper & occasional producer Lucki coming off his birthday from a couple weeks ago to release his 3rd LP. Beginning to turn heads in the summer of 2013 when he released his debut mixtape Alternative Trap to critical acclaim, he would later go on to give his fans 6 more tapes & a dozen EPs with the last one being the F1LTHY-produced Wake Up Lucki a week before my 25th birthday in December 2021. The full-length debut Flawless Like Me saw Lucki finding his style & the sophomore effort s*x mon*y dr*gs was the most I enjoyed Tune’s music in a while, so maintained optimism that Gemini would continue to make those improvements.
To start us off, “On They Way” works in synths & hi-hats from Vanguard member & Internet Money Records in-house producer Cxdy to talk about money turning him into a villain whereas “Courtesy Of” takes the luxurious trap route instrumentally boasting that you can’t play it the way he does out here. “CTA 2 Bach” brings a psychedelic flare to the table talking about cash making everything go his way just before the upbeat “All Love” asks why wouldn’t he bring his gun to the function since he don’t like nobody.
Lil Yachty slides through for the Rio Leyva-produced “Biggavel” so he & Lucki Eck$ can discuss undebatably being on a high right now leading into the atmospheric “Gerskiway” featuring 4PF Music artist Rylo Rodriguez & one of the biggest names in Detroit currently Veeze going back & forth about their lifestyles. “BRAZY4real” continues to shoot for synth-trap vibe generally calling out those who ain’t letting loose as much as they say they do “Exotic” jumps over pianos & hi-hats living like John Gotti.
“BBY GOAT” featuring Future hooks the synthesizers back up talking about both of them being on a new level while “KYLIE!!!” ends the first half of Gemini by bragging that he’s bigger than Kylie Jenner over rage beats, which personally I would have to agree with since I’m more of a fan of Tuneski than Kylie anyway. “Dotted Line” has more of a futuristic trap approach generally in comparison starring the 2nd leg of the LP killing opponents out here & “Signed Up” atmospherically accepting that whatever comes & is.
Veeze pops back up for the lavish trap banger “Twin Flow” for a cut that I happen to find myself catering towards more than “Gerskiway” treating the paper like friends, but Rylo Rodriguez funny enough returns on “3 SMRS STR8” this time joined by 4PF labelmate 42 Dugg to get on some Detroit trap shit. “X6” defends that you can’t complain because they’re the same ones who made him the way he is continuing to build further upon the Motor City’s unique take on trap while “Hustler Muzik” takes aim at Lucki’s critics towards his newer material.
The song “Heavy on My Heart” samples “Do You Really Mean It?” by Jerry Knight thanks to Coupe suggesting Bossy Simpson made shit look simple when everybody knew that shit get hard while “Ski What It Be” throws the synths & hi-hats back in the picture leaving more than he came with. “RIP” has a chill ass beat that Bhristo cooked up leaving it up to the Deadboy to turn a straight-up hoe into pack & the 2-part outro featuring aadditional Veeze vocals officially closes up shop talking about how he ain’t got nobody.
Although I’d have to still say s*x m*ney dr*gs is be my favorite full-length of the 3 that LUCKI has already offered, Gemini for sure happens to be a solid offering from the influential underground Chi-Town artist either way you put it. He still maintains the cloudy trap production that the predecessor last summer except he’s swapping out the Chicago drill influences in favor of pulling from the Detroit trap scene representing the Midwest even further.
Score: 3.5/5
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