If you need it (you better believe in something) My peanut butter chocolate cake with Kool-Aid You wanna make it right, but now it’s too late Redbone is the album’s high point, as Gambino transforms his voice into the ultimate falsetto and sings a lush ballad of unreconciled affection. Boogieman and Zombie take the Rick James homage to its zenith, both funky and untamed as Gambino croons and uses his voice in pointed effect. It is lyrically repetitive, with the theme of racial love amongst our people echoing itself with joyously sunny production and a simple, yet rewarding, motive. This gives way to the funkadelic inspired Have Some Love, which is in competition for my favorite individual song of the year. The song is six minutes of expression from a man whose heart is so far entrenched in the muck of another’s soul, you can literally FEEL the gusto of desire beating fervently throughout the track. In the album’s first track, the fiery and aggressive Me And Your Mama, Gambino allows the two minute soft and lullaby-like opening to give way to a searing, angry guitar as he throatily screeches his pang and longing for the acceptance of an unreadable woman. However, where J.Cole is pointed and direct in his approach, Glover allows the overall atmosphere of his music to convey his message. Thematically, that narrative is similar to J.Cole’s recent effort, in that it speaks to concepts of the black male awareness of love, racial animosity, and fatherhood. He uses sound, both sonically and vocally, as a means to convey a narrative. Childish Gambino channels the musical revolution that took place in the 70’s that was politically inclined and erotically intimate. In their place is a work steeped in funk and blues, mixed with George Clinton flourishes and Rick James’ sexual abandon. Gone are the days of witty punchlines and stories crafted in the vein of a nerdy kid trying to find his place in the world. And was like nothing that fans, critics, or the general populace had come to expect from Donald Gambino.Īwaken, My Love is not a Hip Hop album. On December 2nd that album, christened A waken, My Love, was delivered. It proved to be a resounding success and demand for his third album was at a fever pitch. No cell phone usage was permitted, as Donald and his Royalty collective wanted people to interact with only the music and each other. It was a spectacular tour de force which combined music from his previously unnamed album, the first two episodes of his now widely popular and acclaimed television show Atlanta, and a light and laser show stretching across a dome built in the desert of California’s Joshua Tree. Not being one to rest on his laurels, Childish Gambino returned at the latter end of the summer with his Pharos event. He’s released two proper studio albums (2011’s Camp and 2013’s Because The Internet) as well as several well received mixtapes (including the phenomenal STN MTN/Kauai double project), gaining both fans and steady acclaim with every release. He simultaneously writes and stars in his own standup specials, and releases Hip Hop music under the moniker, Childish Gambino-a name he infamously picked up from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator. After cutting his teeth as a writer on Tina Fey’s 30 Rock, Glover went onto to Star on NBC’s cult classic sitcom Community. Screenwriter, actor, rapper, producer, director, star: he is all of them and none of them, a singular force of creativity bound only by the limits of his vast imagination. Even more, Black Genius is ours to deepen, to understand, and to leverage in order to create a better tomorrow.”ĭonald Glover is the quintessential genius of our generation. Black Genius is within us all, but can only be realized when we recognize it in each other. Black Genius is realized when we collectively imagine and construct new systems based on the values of equity and justice for all. Black Genius is realized and achieved in those spectacular moments when we collectively utilize our talent and skill to disrupt and dismantle institutional systems of oppression. The potential and capacity to achieve Black Genius grows when that interest is cultivated into skill. “The potential of Black Genius lies within the interest, and inevitably the talents, we all have within us.
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