Jemani (pronounced Gemini)

"The main-stage headliner, Sevendust, found itself in a difficult position. Its heavy, groove-oriented rock has garnered mass appeal. Energetic, tuneful and talented, the band is more capable of standing on its own merits, and the crowd quickly turned into a single shaking, throbbing organism, breathing in time to the music. However, the band still found itself the victim of unfortunate circumstance.

Sevendust had to follow Jemani."

(You can read the entire review at the link below)

<a href="http://augustachronicle.com/stories/102601/app_220-6849.000.shtml"target=_blank"> Entire article </a> - Steven Uhles

"Thanks to Ike for being patient with us. This review is based on the three songs JEMANI has available for download on mp3.com. This style of music is known as Rip Hop, but all you need to know is that it sounds like Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power album meets Outkast's Bombs Over Baghdad. It is brutal and unrelenting and hits you like an undercooked fatcat from the grease trucks. Deep, bassy, and fast, like a fat guy on a banana peel these beats stagger on impact. I found myself reminiscing about the City Gardens days and thinking how well these guys would have fit into the hardcore scene there. Anyways do yourselves a favor, stop scratching your balls and go buy Jemani's 14 track album Lockdown. " - Robby

The rumors are finally true. The album is Segregation , a 20-track epic by Augusta hard rock/hip-hop act Jemani. The record, according to frontman Ike Isaac, will be ready for release early in 2009, and he was kind enough to slip me a copy of the master.
It is ambitious.
The first 10 tracks are classic Jemani, melodic metal riffing layered over rapid-fire hip-hop. It's a sound that has been compared favorably to Sevendust, although the homer in me makes me think Jemani pulls it off with more grace.
The second 10 tracks are the real surprise, a straightforward hip-hop set that eschews most of the fire and fury of the electric Jemani sound in favor of studio beats and complex lyrical spins.
While both sets are polished, professional and hard-rocking smart, the back half represent this band's best shot at success.
Yes, the rock tracks are amazing and I'd love to hear them live, as that's where this band really shines. But I feel they are too easy to lump in with a musical movement whose moment has come and gone. Pretenders such as Limp Bizkit diluted the legitimacy of rock/rap crossovers long ago, and while this is an excellent example of the form, my fear is that it will unjustly get compared with bands now filed under has-been and once-was.
While promoted and recorded as a straight rap set, the hip-hop tracks clearly belie the band's rock roots. There's an aggressiveness here, a sense of lyrical acceleration, that's as much pedal to the Sabbath metal as it is syncopated beats. While sonically quite different, the tracks feature the same sort of indignation, anxiety and intelligence that made Public Enemy enthralling in the late 1980s.
Of course, the question remains, what took so long? According to Ike, it was the trials and travails of rock 'n' roll -- bad band behavior, babies, weddings -- all the things that conspire against rock. Thankfully, those seem to have been set aside, and with Segregation , Jemani can once again integrate itself into the music community. - The Augusta Chronicle

Augusta rap-rock act Jemani recently released a video for its decidedly twangy tune Glitterbone . The song represents a real expansion in sound for the band, best known for bringing the heavy. Inspired as much by Nashville as by nu metal, the tune and video feature some hard harp playing, instructions for a line dance and just enough of the hip-hop and hard rock that Jemani is known for to make it feel fresh and distinctive.

Particularly appealing was bass player Jason Guy's incarnation of the mythical Glitterbone, a self-aware rock parody and professional party starter. I know that Jemani has experimented extensively with its sound over the past few years -- it's particularly evident on Segregation , the ambitious double album the band released earlier this year.

My vote is for more in the Glitterbone vein. Hard, heavy and indignant have their place, but I love the idea of Jemani evolving into a really rocking Southern party band.

Check out the Glitterbone video at www.youtube.com/user/jemanike.
- The Augusta Chronicle

About 10 years ago a scary dude with dreads and freaky looking eyes walked up to me in front of the National Guard Armory during BloodFest and handed me an even more unusual looking CD. To say I was intrigued would have been a major understatement but with my own event set to happen the next day this “unique” disc found itself housed on the front seat of my car for a few days. Once all the smoke had cleared from the weekend I noticed the CD, now sitting under a pile of flyers and mail, still intact on the passenger’s seat. To be truthful it was my daughter Alexis, clearing the seat off to be able to go “cruising with Dad”, that spotted the CD. Alexis popped it into the player and we listened to some of the most out of this world lokal music to date. It was loud, it was rockin, it flowed, and most of all for a teenage girl stuck for the day with her Dad…it was fun.

The CD was Jemani’s Cyborg Jesus.

Out of these small memories come many as Jemani grew from a couple of friends with a common love of all styles of music. There would be a couple more impactful CD’s, many lokal music awards, a deal with Jagermeister not to mention a bunch of indy and major label bands getting their asses handed to them trying to follow Jemani on stage.

Then things just sort of got very quiet.

In 2008 the rumblings of a new Jemani release began to surface and occasionally I would bump into one of the guys and get similar “yeah we’re workin’ on some pretty killer stuff” comments each time. Then time just passed again and things would get quiet. Then came the announcement that a CD release show was scheduled at Sky City, then new tracks on the band’s MySpace, then I got the call this past week from drummer Jordan Leopard wanting to put a new disc in my hands. The very next day it was confirmed. In a McDonald’s parking lot Leopard, possibly the nicest guy you’ll ever meet, handed me a copy of It Is What It Is, Vol. 1: Segregation. The time had arrived.

Now I gotta admit that initially I was a bit skeptical that this new release would be able to live up to the bombast of the killer CDs that Jemani had already unleashed on Augusta. The whole metal and hip hop mix had pretty much died out even by the time the guys hit the scene yet somehow with their own take on the blend mixed with an explosive stage show Jemani had managed to escape the clutches of the played out sub genre and become a monster band. But would they be able to do it again? As I peeled the cellophane off of the disc I wondered “would they even TRY to do it again?”

The answer to that question came in spurts as I listened to It Is What It Is, Vol. 1: Segregation. Right off the bat Jemani’s “rip hop” style jumps out but amazingly, in a fresh new way. Maybe it’s due to not being exposed to it heavily as of late. In my opinion it’s a lot more than that . While it’s true that the return of Jemani has brought with it the rip hop style of the band’s decade old past, this latest disc is way more than simply a rehashing of the group’s patented style.

Starting off in familiar territory with intense opening track Whatever, Jemani continues the rip hip journey but with subtle differences over each of the first few tracks. A bit of soul here, some classic rock there, even a nice punky edge on Sick of It All. Not 2Day is a great head-bobbing rock track with a great chant chorus but it’s where Jemani head on track 10 and forward that truly mark this as a very different Jemani.

Since the moment Augusta was first exposed to Jemani their rip hop sound has been duly noted time and time again. The guys like both sides of the fence and up to this point have preferred to keep it all nailed tightly together. Until now.

Starting with Concrete the bands’ hip hop side takes over and proves that Jemani is not only strong when all of their strengths are combined but that they are capable of mastering one side of the fence OR the other. Front man Ike and guitarist Sonny Won swap smooth raps that stand up against any lokal hip hop artist. Stripped of distorted guitars and crunchy bass Jemani is somehow still as lethal as ever. What makes Jemani hip hop stand out is the absence of the same old “girls, rims, and benjamins” shtick that has oversaturated hip hop as of late. Jemani’s rhymes flow with substance and meaning. Sure you’ll get plenty to party and sing-a-long to and maybe that’s part of Jemani’s mission-to make you get down and then wake up the next morning and go “hmmm.” Uh Oh is full of classic Jemani audience participation catchiness while Deadneck flirts a bit with the edgy side. The Factory walks a bit on the funky side sliding at times into 70’s Shaft territory while Static shows Jemani’s soul side. But the biggest flip flop on this CD actually comes on the final track.

Complete with solid blues harp by multi-instrumentalist Scott Terry, Glitter Bone takes a country blues shuffle and tosses in a bit of old-school Aerosmith romp to create possibly the most adventurous Jemani track to date. Unexpected? For sure. Fitting? For a band that has dabbled in many different musical genres and pulled it off each time I would expect no less.

Long-time fans of Jemani will be more than pleased to add this latest release to their rip hop catalog. At the same time perhaps Jemani has not only stretched their arms out in order to unleash some much needed expressive venting, but possibly created a CD that will capture a whole new group of fans.

Don’t believe me? Get your ass out to Sky City this Saturday and hear for yourself. If that’s not enough to convince you go to the band’s MySpace at www.myspace.com/jemani and check out just a handful of the new tunes.
- Stoney Cannon -- Lokal Loudness

2009 has so far been the year for music releases and this was never more evident than this past weekend when not one, but TWO brand new long-awaited CDs dropped like 10-ton rocks on downtown music venue Sky City.

Closing out yet another great 2009 weekend of music, Jemani played an early set of tunes from their new CD It Is What It Is, Vol. 1: Segregation that went the distance at just over two hours while keeping the Sky City crowd on their toes the entire time.
Strutting out not only a new set of music, their 4th album in a decade long career, Jemani also ushered in new guitarist Bryan Pryor and the new addition has added additional depth and power to the Jemani sound which by the way has now begun to stretch all over the musical maps of rock, metal, hip hop, blues, and even country. The sound is all Jemani but the ability to take so many styles and interweave them seamlessly while remaining instantly recognizable as the rip hop faves Augusta know and love is astounding.
Charging forward with the pounding rhythm of drummer Jordan Leopard, bassist Jason Guy, and Pryor, Jemani tore through songs from their latest release showcasing the duel vocal / rap talents of frontman Ike Isaac and guitarist Sonny Won. While most of Augusta has been witness to Isaac’s vocal flow, Jemani has jumped on to the opportunity to take expanded advantage of Won’s exceptional vocal talents. Already proven as quite the rapper on previous releases, Saturday night Won exhibited a vocal ability that makes one wonder why it took so long for Jemani to let him loose. Simply put: Won has one hell of a voice. Take a listen to closing track “Glitter Bone” on the new CD if you don’t believe me!
With a stage full of ear to ear grins, Jemani brought a set that pleased even the most die-hard fans of the band. With over twenty songs on the new release this was no easy task. Any lesser band would have settled playing just half that many but not only did Jemani pull out the big guns to showcase the new album, they topped it all off with an unreleased track and long-time fan favorite “Don’t Know S**t.”
Don’t be the only one that don’t know s**t, get your copy of the new CD now. - Stoney Cannon -- Lokal Loudness

As if it wasn’t already enough that lokal rip hoppers JEMANI recently unleashed the great new CD It Is What It Is, Vol. 1: Segregation now the band have filmed and released a new video for the song Glitter Bone online.

The video, filmed on a farm and featuring a large cast of friends and family, also includes other fixtures on the Augusta music scene from the past few years and is a complete hootenany of a good time! In addition to the guys in the band, Glitter Bone also features some fine blues harp work from one of Augusta’s finest, multi-instrumentalist Scott Terry currently of the traveling version of the legendary Lewis Family.

In the video a jam, led by Terry, draws spectators from all over the countryside who end up singing and line-dancing to the music. The focus on Jason “Glitter Bone” Guy and his ever so hot galpal (sorry, like no one else was thinking it right?) as they make their way to the event and into the swarm of people having a good time is hilarious.

If the world was waiting for a good summertime video, then the wait is definitely over! Check it out for yourself!
- Stoney Cannon -- Lokal Loudness