WHO IN THE WORLD IS CHILDISH GAMBINO?! That's the question I asked myself after hearing his name floating around the past two weeks AND a couple of commercials from best buy or f.y.e. or walmart or whatever. BUT the final straw was when I was asked by one of my guys on Facebook about Mr. Gambino..."OK THAT'S IT!! LET ME DO MY RESEARCH!" Thanks to Youtube and Wikipedia I REALIZED that Childish Gambino is Donald Glover from Derrick Comedy and NBC's "Community". Wait so dude is a comedian AND Actor?!..YES. Wait he wrote for 30 Rock? YES...oh gosh...is this another "pet project" from some actor/writer/comedian like The Lonely Island? Using rap just for college humor and cheap laughs...NO!
Now for the REAL question...IS HE AUTHENTIC? and better yet, How is the album?
1. Outside-Biography rap at it's FINEST....this is something of the likes of Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Early Drake, but he pulls it off more seamlessly. 1/1
2. Fire Fly-After the lame hook, he starts to spit about the everyday stuff and you start to realize that (well for me)there are a lot of things one can relate too..I respect it 2/2
3. Bonfire-I DON'T CARE who you are...this song WILL surprise you...he starts going off Mixtape Weezy style..but you can't front he really GOES IN! Witty One-Liners, Metaphors, above par punchlines..Dope 3/3
4. All The Shine-Damn a Emo-Rap beat..i was about to skip it but decided to let it rock...Then the crescendo came in..whew....He really starts to hammer home the fact that he IS rapping about his life and Eff you if you don't like it..don't worry bruh i feel you..4/4
5. Letter Home-No! Childish NO! WHY ARE YOU SINGING!!!! Because he can...and he isn't bad at it either..its not overwhelming like say a Trey Songz but he can carry a tune...not autotune...i know i hate on boo loving alot but this song is too short to even care about it..Nice Interlude 5/5
6. Heartbeat-Damn i just gave you a pass on the singing bro...why you gotta keep doing it...then the beat gets techno and he get's all 808 and Heartbreak on this one ...this is one of those College Dorm Parties with the red plastic cups songs..damn he's biting Kanye's style or did Kanye bite his? hmmmmmm...5/6
7. Backpackers-This song is dope hands down, he's taking those rap purist to task..and when I say rap purist I mean those guys that believe he's too "Carlton" to rap...His beef is legit...6/7
8. L.E.S.-Another 808esque type...I was trying real hard to hate this song...but dammit it boll weeviled its way into my brain...I'm not a fan of the hook and bridge but the lyrics are honest and that's all can really ask for. 7/8
9. Hold You Down-Damn he's really killing me with this falsetto...ok he's starting to rap again...emo rap...but I related b/c i grew up the same way...8/9
10. Kids(Keep Up)-MORE singing, but im not mad b/c its not that boo loving type singing...like i said earlier dude can carry a tune...and sometimes...SOMETIMES you gotta sing to get your point across...don't worry it's just the hook..he does spit but its more emo girl stuff...oh well 8/10
11. You See Me-OK he brought it back to the rapping....DUDE CAN RAP! Its really effortless for him...what else can I say...crazy punchlines, witty one-liners...I will not front I WILL Bump this song this winter..catchy beat too. 9/11
12.Sunrise-Hipster/8bit rap...You'll like this song, but you'll never admit it to your homies. 10/12
13. That Power- It's pretty clear to me now...Dude is a lyrical killer...he ate this beat alive...but not in a Eminem sense..but in a sense that you finally showed you're older brother you can rap and he looked at you like Damn my little brother is dope..ok you can chill with me now.. 11/13
14. Freaks and Geeks-its not a Bonus Track but it should have been...i think this song is crazy.. and so does about 5 million other people on youtube. I wished he would have included this.
WOW...i really enjoyed this album...its really want I NEEDED to hear at this point...Let's be clear though, Many people won't give this album a chance because they can't fathom how he can be good at so many forms of entertainment.. For me personally, this is the dude that would fit right in with me and The Defective Clones Friday Night Cyphers @ Union Square(Peace to Stove and AJ)...and with that being said..listen to this album...you won't love it Per se but I GUARANTEE you'll like the hell out of it. Beware though, THIS IS NOT A TRADITIONAL RAP ALBUM..so please have a open mind....The is "REAL" RAP..in the truest sense of the word.
love your blogs and style of writing very clever and witty
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