by Mike Mekus

1/07/2022

Daron Gems emerges as one of the most emotionally evocative young artists from Tampa Bay, Florida.

The third song on Daron Gems’ BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX, “Sundown”, evokes feelings of drowsy days with grey clouds and soft pattering rain. Like the rest of the album, it isn’t achingly sad, but there’s just enough melancholia that you’d sooner think Daron was living up north and was used to frigid and bleak winters as opposed to Tampa’s typically pervasive heat. It’s somber and relatable music, given the state of our current world. It’s particularly paranoid in moments, brimming with anxiety, yet always balanced out by the small celebrations that come from mild successes in an oppressive capitalistic world.

Gems produced, mixed, and mastered every track on the album, as well as handled all of the writing and rapping. He’s a young 27. That isn’t to say the music is amateurish (Gems is particularly adept at subtlety, never forcing his voice or doing too much and simply letting the simple yet effective production and the storytelling paint the pictures); just that he’s rapping about struggles that could be relatable to somebody who is 35 and misses their son so much because their ex has him “hostage” (as he raps terrifically on “Sportmode”) or rapping about struggles that a 19-year-old could find meaningful, such as being worried that you screwed around and lost a good girl and now you’re left constantly checking her social media because you miss her (as he raps about on “Tension”).

A standout track is “Betrayed”, where Gems shows off his dexterity as a rapper with bars like “I thought it was real but I know that it wasn’t/At night when you love me, in daytime it’s nothing”, as well as allusions to the fact he won’t eat chicken that isn’t from Publix (a fairly renown grocery store in the south, mostly located every few miles in Florida, that does have incredible fried chicken) and the fact that his girl smiling at him with her braces reminds him of summer. It’s some of the sunniest music on the tape and is completely earnest. 

“Betrayed” reminds me of the fact that even if life can provide unrelenting sadness, there are still few things more gratifying than good sex and longing after beautiful women. “Faded to Blue” also features manic rapping. His voice is calm and reserved, as it is for the entirety of the album, but the words are filled with restlessness, again about things like his child, feeling like he’s working too hard, his friendships, his time in jail, his ex, etc. 

The outro, “Time & Anxiety” is memorable, perfect late-night walking music. There is no rapping, and you may even be reminded of those lofi hip-hop “perfect music to relax/study to” Youtube videos when you first hear it, but it has more personality than that music does. It manages to feel like the culmination of everything that comes before it on the album. It has a chilled air of sadness to it, but there still remains an unrelenting hope that you can sense maybe might just be around the corner. It’s relaxing and a relief from the paranoia littered through the album, filled with beautiful chords.

Overall, Daron Gems displays impressive skills and empathetic writing in his debut project.  He’s another artist in a long list that shows Tampa Bay, Florida might be one of the next significant cities in the landscape of rap.

BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX is now available on all platforms.

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