I’ll admit, when I first listened to Macklemore’s new album, I was a bit skeptical. Macklemore’s hits throughout the past few years have been catchy, but most have seemed repetitive, and were inevitably overplayed. This new album was anything but. The skillful production of Gemini has more dynamism than anything seen from Macklemore before. The album offers a diverse range of beats, creative lyrics, and tons of featured artists. This helps bring a new sound to the album that would have been lost if he had he simply worked alone. Macklemore also uses a wide range of instruments to create the beats of different tracks. For example, while Willy Wonka is largely accompanied by electronic music, How to Play the Flute is accompanied by a flute (no surprise there), and Firebreather features guitar. Gemini is also absurdly underhyped by the media, so the chances of it being overplayed are slim. Overall, this is a great collection by Macklemore. Many fans were worried, as this album is his first without producer extraordinaire Ryan Lewis. However, Macklemore stood up to the challenge and used it to make some of his best music yet.