Inside The Credits 053: Ron Gilmore
Ron Gilmore’s Emotional Contributions To A Trifecta of Dreamville Classics
Ron Gilmore is a sensei of the keyboard. He made his start there with the Dreamville boss J. Cole for his 2013 album Born Sinner. Gilmore is credited solely as a keyboardist on six tracks. He wouldn’t get official producer crediting until the very end of Cole’s 2014 opus 2014 Forest Hills Drive, on the final song “Note To Self.” Gilmore’s keys glide into the soundscape like a monk stepping barefoot through a shallow creek. They propel Cole to fervently sing and rap his lasting message from the album—a plea for all listeners to rid themselves of the dream of happiness they think they will find through career and fiscal success. It’s as emotional a send off as exists on a modern rap album.
Cole’s end to his opus marked only the beginning of Gilmore's legendary run with Dreamville, which remains understated. His work on the next album’s for three giants of the label, spurred their most emotionally grounded and vulnerable work to this day. Naturally, when eliciting that type of energy from a vocalist, one tends to craft compositions that are also that artist’s most lasting. What follows is my breakdown of Gilmore’s soul-stirring impact.
Too High To Riot by Bas
To me, this is still one of the greatest albums in the entirety of the Dreamville catalog, and arguably the best rap album of 2016. It chronicles Bas’ impetus to numb rather than protest, to escape rather than engage. Gilmore helps him capture what lies beneath the haze and to uncover the catalysts for his suppression. Before I had more of an awareness of my own mental health difficulties, this album hit my core with what I myself was suppressing.
Gilmore’s production ranges from melancholic on a track like “Miles and Miles” to triumphant on a track like “Methylone.” On both there’s an undercurrent of synthy atmosphere that feels like it represents the shakiness of Bas, as well as singer K Quick’s, subconscious. Yet, on his other four tracks Gilmore urges Bas to bring his pain to the surface. On “Dopamine” and “Penthouse” Bas’ anger, which he eventually finds is covering up hurt, bleeds through the speakers. The production on both songs merges a semi-underwater feel with boom bap adjacent percussion. “Dopamine” also features Dreamville rapper Cozz’s best verse I’ve ever heard from him, which is a blue collar plea for frustration to be replaced with peace. Bas counters this with a verse and hook of grief and addiction woes that turn into glimmers of hope chronicled by a Gilmore procured synth violin sequence. It sounds like the sun trying to break through the clouds.
Bas’ collabs with the Hics however, is where Gilmore really shines. “Matches” features winding synths and even more swirling emotional key sequences. On the song, Bas juxtaposes relationship woes, with crew elevation gratitude, and societal frustration. Gilmore’s instrumental acts as the sonic representation of Bas’ varying and shifting spiral. “Ricochet” has descending bass synth movements and ethereal bell sounds that outline the process of Bas sinking into a state of paralysis via substances with a romantic enabler. Gilmore not only helps Bas strip the layers of protection away, but also urges him to outline his process for allowing them to overtake him.
4 Your Eyez Only by J. Cole
Gilmore continued his ascension with the Dreamville head honcho on what I believe to be his best aged album. A project that was majority panned upon release, due to allegedly not being as dynamic as the album prior, sounds better and better with time. A pure concept piece with a winding dual lyrical narrative is spined together by Gilmore’s matching dual sonic narrative. The first for Gilmore is a search for a real love that allows for you to relinquish preconceived notions of who you are and what you should value. From “Deja Vu,” to “She’s Mine Pt. 1,” to “Foldin Clothes,” to “She’s Mine Pt. 2,” Cole’s search for peace through romance is chronicled by Gilmore’s jazz soul soundscapes. Yet, Gilmore truly shines on the album on the two songs representing the push and pull black men in America deal with when their environments are thrust upon them. “Ville Mentality” features the sharpest keys of Gilmore’s catalog, piercing through the instrumental alongside Cole’s croons about the strain of survival. Then, most dynamically, on the most underrated song in Cole’s catalog “Change,” synthy organ keys by Gilmore uplift Cole’s musings about trying to heal before it’s too late.
Shea Butter Baby by Ari Lennox
The duo of tracks Gilmore has main producer crediting on for Ari Lennox’s first album and opus, simply, make the album what it is. “Speak To Me” is a synth wonderland that feels like a smoke filled bedroom where a couple is filled with anticipation as they decide whether they will or won’t take it further. Gilmore captures romantic tension like no other. His peak though, happens on my favorite song of 2019, “I Been.” The way the piano buoys off the knocking beat lifts Lennox’s yearning vocals to the stratosphere. This is where Gilmore shows he is a master of sequencing within a single song. Lennox’s repeated “I try” and “You lie” section, which works as a pre-chorus, sounds like someone dropping to their knees in sonic form.
Ps. Ron Gilmore also produced “Be Free” by J. Cole, which came out a little over a year after the Lennox album to complete his legendary run. On that track, Cole raps a tribute to victim of police murder Mike Brown. Gilmore’s heartbreaking keys move Cole into a state of sheer rawness and fear as he laments on his, and American black men’s, desire for true freedom and safety.
Inside The Credits 053: Ron Gilmore- The Playlists