Who, or what is Adon Shemesh? Seated on the line of Gretna and Algiers Point, Louisiana, they all gathered in the backyard to drink fresh fruit smoothies injected with the finest quality of alkaline. Amethyst, clear quartz and a plethora of other crystals lay out on the table in front of them to soak up the sun.
Son of a preacher, Adon Shemesh (which means “master of sun” in Hebrew) patiently awaited his questions while getting his hair braided by a lovely Spanish woman. To the left of him sits a coy Ghazi Gamali (translates to “conquering camel”). The rapper/producer duo have been knowing each other since they were toddlers.
Today, ‘Immunity’ is the topic. Inspired by JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, released twenty one Summers ago, ‘Immunity’ is to provide “another option” says rapper, Adon Shemesh. This album is to promote strength, longevity, life and health. “Truth” says producer Ghazi Gamali.
After reading that introduction, it’s the perfect time to jump right into the EP. This is where learning the backstory, will combine with what you learn from the lyrics, the production, the modernized thoughts, beliefs, and practices, but modernized thoughts with historic, ancient foundations. When you seamlessly transition into the EP after finding out who Adon Shemesh, and Ghazi Gamali are, you get lost in this world, a similar trance that comes from reading a thought provoking piece of literature. And essentially, this is what this is, literature. An audio book filled with brand new concepts, very similar to what Reasonable Doubt provided. So a successful grab at nostalgia? Yes. But, a very up to date way of thinking, a very futuristic peak at what hip hop can evolve into. The only scary part about this piece of audio literature is that this talented rapper/producer duo may be ahead of its time, and this may be a lot to digest for the casual 2017 rap fan.
Our challenge to you, is to not let it be. When you hear Adon Shemesh say something that you’re not familiar with (which is inevitable haha), research it, feed your brain. These guys are teachers. If you’re unfamiliar with the samples Ghazi flipped, and Reasonable Doubt please go back, and listen. They’ve given you a guide beside each song of which song was sampled, use that to peep out the inspiration behind this modern day take on the classic.
