Gemaine and super-producer DJ Charlie Heat release new song “Lay It Down”

 

Compton singer-songwriter Gemaine and super-producer DJ Charlie Heat release their second single “Lay It Down” from their collaborative forthcoming album New Jack City available April 15th. Over a sultry production, Gemaine takes control with his effortlessly smooth vocals. How much can your body take? Listen HERE.

“Lay It Down” follows New Jack City lead single “No Questions” which was selected for “Best R&B of The Week” at Uproxx, was featured by hometown radio station Power 106 and received praise from RatedR&B, among others. Apple Music Discovered with Ebro will be featuring the single on February 24th. The song has also landed sought after playlists like Apple’s “Breaking R&B,” Spotify’s “Alternative R&B,” Amazon’s “Fresh R&B” and TIDAL’s “Future Soul.” Watch “No Questions” official music video HERE. 

On the upcoming New Jack City, Gemaine works with in-house production partners Ymtk and DJ Charlie Heat who serves as executive producer and boasts credentials with Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert, Kehlani, Da Baby, Madonna and more. Both formidable artists in their own right, the producers possess the innate ability to match Gemaine's vision and high standard of artistic execution –– a phenomenon he suggests is anomalous in his experience.

Buoyed by the success of early studio sessions, Gemaine and Charlie Heat quickly realized their collective potential and took the ambitious step toward completing a collaborative project. Inspired by the pace and swagger of gangster films like the gritty 1991 thriller New Jack City, Gemaine and his partners developed a spacious musical signature that lends cinematic flair to even the most effervescent jams and cements an artistic brotherhood derived from what he describes as the collective's "ruthless" work ethic.

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ABOUT:

Los Angeles native Gemaine is a drummer and self-taught pianist turned singer, songwriter and producer. First introduced to music in church, he was a quick study in the charisma and famed chord progressions of modern gospel music as a kid coming up in Compton. 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 transformed him into a viral sensation. 

The sensual tone and natural finesse established during his musical youth make Gemaine the perfect messenger for a timely resurgence of tender lyricism and unapologetic sex appeal, attributes of the music that have arguably flagged since the era responsible for artists like Al B. Sure and Bobby Brown’s storied solo career. Inspired by that legacy and compelled to orchestrate a movement that is altogether invigorating and fresh, Gemaine is a rising r&b phenom whose brash ownership of the heart throb title and deep reserve of artistic versatility make ample room for the next love movement.

A self-described perfectionist, Gemaine arrives with a more ambitious vision and aptitude for R&B than what mainstream pop culture has typically afforded audiences. He takes distinct pride in being a technically sound and self-sufficient artist capable of handling the entire creative process, from the inception of an idea to the task of engineering a record, entirely on his own. A process he began learning to perfect while recording his early work. His exacting approach to the work of innovation is paired with an unflinching belief in the inevitability of his own success as an artist and in the art itself, which is inspired by personal experiences and intentionally crafted to reflect the beauty, rigor and rhythm of everyday life. 

The brevity of the widespread attention afforded by viral success imparted an understanding of how to prepare for the overwhelming weight of commercial success. A subsequent move to New York City at the age of 19 introduced the scrappy determination of a hustler that Gemaine has applied to the work of self-realization. Moreover, that short-lived brush with the spotlight afforded Gemaine an acute sense of clarity about his life's purpose and the foresight to prepare for an inevitable return to center stage as a rising leader in the modern revival of R&B. 

Gemaine's unmistakable signature is the byproduct of a deep-seated desire to remind people of what r&b music is and where it first came from; both aspects of the genre's origin story boil down to matters of the heart. For Gemaine that work begins with his love for the craft and extends to his knack for translating topics like love making or heartbreak with the eloquence of a smooth operator and a keen ear for infectious sound.

The foundation of great storytelling and composition combined with fearless experimentation has set a high bar for Gemaine and the music that he is poised to deliver. Made for more than just monetization, Gemaine's music is a painstakingly designed and perpetually urgent matter of the heart.