JEMS!

As JEMS!, Oakland’s Elujay and Baltimore’s J.Robb stretch outside the expectations of their respective projects, prioritizing looseness and immediacy, the jam above all. Their chemistry comes from years of collaborating, performing, refining ideas and tastes shared, contrasting, and complimenting, from old-school R&B and hip-hop to Lovers Rock and dancehall to contemporary indie, ambient, and the many innovative styles they’ve encountered in the UK. They titled their debut project GEMS IN THE CORNERSTORE (released in 2020 on Soulection Records) because the phrase conjured “a kind of urban diamond in the rough,” says Elujay; the feeling of finding something unexpected in the melting pot of a city, an allegory that’s even more apt for its multi-faceted, genre-spanning sequel, their first release on Secretly affiliate label drink sum wtr. This time around the duo recorded primarily in person, across sessions in Los Angeles, Oakland, London, and New York, inviting a sprawl of guests — Amaria, Chase Shakur, Louis Culture, Rae Khalil, with additional production from several friends — into a cohesive street-soul vision, “a feel-good record,” says J.Robb. Modern, polished, and still true to the mission, GEMS IN THE CORNERSTORE II is JEMS!’s latest batch, the work of two world-class artists who understand where their strengths meet and precisely what constitutes a desired vibe.

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