Gemini's Delight: Why the Greatest Rappers are Born in May and June

What do Kanye, Tupac, Andre 3000 and Kendrick Lamar have in common? Quite a lot actually, but what you may not have been expecting is that they, as well as many other famous rappers, all have birthdays between May 21th and June 20th. That is to say: they are geminis.

According to this, a gemini is characterized by expressiveness and quick–wit that allows them to think creatively and express their ideas effectively, a description that fits the persona of a rapper exactly. That being said, why wouldn’t they brag about it? Kendrick refers to his horoscope sign in Wesley’s Theory (2015), Dave East released his album entitled Gemini (2013) and even G–Eazy has taken up the mantle of the gemini on vine saying that the gemini has an impact on his rapping personality. 

Unfortunately, for some of you prospective psychics out there, horoscopes are fanciful and aromatic bullshit. For every gemini rapper, there are eleven rappers who are not. Nas, Ghostface Killah, GZA and Vince Staples are all legendary rappers whose birthdays do not fall in the month reserved for rappers. But the question remains: Why do we know about gemini rappers but all other horoscope signs have remained in the dark?

As any good Wharton student could tell you, the answer is branding. Because some of the Greats of hip hop are gemini, those who are not are taken out of the dataset, and the legend of the gemini rapper is fabricated. Once created, this myth had potential to be a very powerful marketing tool, as any rapper who was born at the end of May or beginning of June had the opportunity to claim the gemini heritage. This is exactly what Kanye did and has been doing since his debut. He has rapped about being a gemini in several songs and spoken about it in interviews.

"I'd be biased to think that the community of Geminis is the most consistently in tune with what their spirit is telling them to do or why they have breath in their lungs, but I do think that creative Geminis have, throughout history, been really in tune with those things."

As one of the most influential rappers in the game, he popularized the belief in the gemini myth and used it to create a brand for himself, and in the process, he created an identity and immediate credit for any other emerging rapper born in the allotted time frame. Kanye highlighted the trend and inspired these other, at the time, lesser known, emerging artists to cling to this legend like a malnourished baby monkey to its mother’s stomach. The idea of the gemini has become a status symbol hip hop that truly represents nothing.

Andre says it best in Outkast’s song Aquemini: 

“Even the sun goes down, heroes eventually die

Horoscopes often lie, and sometimes "y"

Nothin' is for sure, nothin' is for certain, nothin' lasts forever

But until they close the curtain, it's him and I: Aquemini”