By Seth Koskey Actor, singer, rapper, director, producer, comedian, and writer Donald Glover has starred in many TV shows like NBC comedies, Community and 30 Rock, FX’s drama comedy Atlanta, and many others, while acting in movies like Solo: A Star Wars Story. The reason we’re here today is to shine a light on his music, in which he goes under the pseudonym Childish Gambino, a name created by the Wu-Tang Clan name generator. Childish Gambino has released four full-length LPs along with two EPs throughout his nine year music career, which he announced was finished after the release of his last single: Feels Like Summer in 2018. Obviously a nine year career couldn’t have ended in 2018 with his first EP (EP: 2011) being released in 2011. Childish Gambino released a new album on March 15, 2020, only available on his website for 12 hours under the title 3.15.20. On March 22, 2020, the album was released on all music streaming services. It is unknown if Donald Glover’s music career is over, but no matter what, he will have left a consistent and illustrious discography. His crowning achievement in his career varies wildly from fan to fan, but since this is my opinion and my review, I will be looking at his 2013 album and in my opinion, his best work: Because the Internet. A quick backstory for the album shows it was recorded during the fourth and fifth season of the TV show Community, in which Donald Glover was present for half of season five, before leaving the show to work on other shows and music. Knowing the circumstances he was in, working on a full length album must have been stressful, and would probably affect the quality of the art, but not in this case. Because the Internet is a conscious, menacing, beautiful, and somewhat egotistical alternative hip hop album drawing emotion from his personal life and life at the time. The album takes themes from rap, soul, rock, R&B, and pop music creating an atmosphere that flows perfectly from song to song even when the genre of music completely flips on its head. A perfect example of this is the transition from track 16: II. Zealots of Stockholm, a devious, dark, and lyrical song mentioning his relationship with his parents and a more sad atmosphere with talk of mortality. This flawless track flows perfectly into the smooth, slow, soulful R&B song: III. Urn which also tackles the topic of life and death. Pinpointing different songs off the album is very interesting, but the best way to get familiar with the album is get through tracks 1-19 the way it was meant to be heard. The LP starts off with a simple five second synth intro diving into the opening two songs: I.Crawl and II. Worldstar which both hold hard-hitting production, and respectively use clever one-liners but with pretty typical hip hop themes. The end of II. Worldstar ends with a brilliant saxophone solo put together by Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson who is a frequent Childish Gambino collaborator. This smooth section transitions perfectly into a slower and lighter interlude track: Dial Up which is merely a set up for hit single: I. The Worst Guys (ft. Chance the Rapper). This track introduces easier to digest production themes than prior in the album. This casual (but still satisfying) theme keeps its form into my personal favorite track on the album: II. Shadows, which starts out as a quaint guitar and percussion produced pop song talking about the topics of doubt in love. Halfway through the track it shifts flawlessly into a more devious genre-bending sound with the same lyrics showing two different sides to a story.
III. Telegraph Ave. sets in at track seven with repetitive lyrics and somewhat obnoxious vocals from pop singer Lloyd, who is featured on the track. The production is underwhelming compared to other songs on the album. It has a redeeming quality nearing the end where one of Childish Gambino’s best verses is held in a clean and concise 30 seconds with fitting synth hits every other beat. Another single, IV. Sweatpants jumps in next without any warning or set up at track eight. The quirky and slightly uncomfortable glockenspiel rhythm is accompanied by a high-octave 808 beat pattern as well as unsettling quiet yelling adlibs at the apex of every third beat. The non-stop onslaught of one-liners and bursts of energy in the lyrics come off as intentionally braggadocious as he boasts about money and how he’s made it in the business. Overall this track could be seen as annoying and tiresome, but with the unique production and humorous lyrics, it has amazing confidence and personality. Coming in with the second consecutive hit single, and platinum billboard charting song, 3005 has become one of the most popular Childish Gambino tracks ever. Another unique yet more accessible beat is present mainly made up of different kinds of synth hits. The lyrics fit the track well with some more existential thoughts and feelings being expressed. The ending of this song marks the halfway point through the 19 track album. Track 10: Playing Around Before the Party Starts is somewhat of a resting point. Nine tracks of conflicting themes and genres is not very digestible to the listener, which is why this track is a lone and sorrowful piano solo with no lyrics or other instruments present except the distant conversation of people before a party. The simplicity works as a break or intermission to collect you thoughts on the prior tracks. Being not even a minute long, it still holds an extremely important stance in the project. After track ten, the party starts with the aptly named song: I. The Party. This track is only about one and a half minutes long with simple lyrics about the description of a party partnered with a quick hitting but somehow soft instrumental. Elements from tracks one and two arrive again in track 12 with II. No Exit, a song that explores the darkest and most depressing lyrics on the album with lyrics describing the life of an introvert who gets stuck in the same hopeless cycle day after day. Just as importantly the track's production is extremely fitting with a dirty, grunge-like, constant guitar. At this point in the review, (that is incredibly longer than I expected) I think I should talk more about the background of this album. Because the Internet is more than just an album. It’s an art piece which has many moving parts to go with it. Prior to the release, a 75 page screenplay under the same name was written by Donald Glover himself. The story is about “the boy” who is growing up in a mansion and is sucked into the media and material filled world. The boy falls into a depression and picks up a drug addiction and at one point attempts suicide. The album is already so confusing, unsettling, and overall just weird that an unreleased 75 page screenplay about suicide, depression, and drugs just ads to it. Throughout this LP, mentions of the story are sprinkled throughout the album, but most directly in the interlude track: Death By Numbers. For only being 44 seconds long, the production is the best on the album. The main melody consists of some electronic noise in a beautiful, melodic, despairing rhythm, that I could not begin to tell you what the instrument is. The drums are muted, soft, and full with a quick tempo that you have to move your head to. Childish Gambino’s vocals here are nearly unintelligible, being masked by different vocal effects and tuners. The movement and range in his voice in this track is so diverse that it overshadows the beat and the lyrics. A main part of this song is the words that directly connect with the suicidal theme of the screenplay, saying “I’m gonna let it go. No one has to know. So let it slide.” After such an emotional track gets fit into 40 seconds, the vibe continues with I. Flight of the Navigator. This track is moved along by an acoustic guitar and constant white ambients placed strategically. The song doesn’t really connect with the screenplay, it just talks about how the death of someone close hurts so bad. Later on the five minute track, drums set in to ride the music out into tracks 15 and 16 mentioned earlier. So we will skip to track 18. I. Pink Toes (ft. Jhene Aiko) is a surprisingly upbeat song connecting to the screenplay talking about his relationship with the boy’s friend (singer Jhene Aiko) and how his drug addiction affects their relationship strangely for the better. The past few songs are heavy and not easy to get through emotionally, which is not let up in track 18: II. Earth: The Oldest Computer. Compared to most songs on the album, this song had mediocre production with more of a dance or house genre feel along with relentless vocals from Childish Gambino. This song doesn’t hurt like the others, but the message is incredibly pessimistic summarizing how short life is and how little we accomplish. Closing out an emotional rollercoaster of an album is one of the strongest tracks: III. Life: The Biggest Troll. A slow, smooth entrance fades into a quiet electronic keyboard with simple drums and a fantastic synth melody moving in and out. Donald Glover said that as the credits rolled on the screenplay this song would play reflecting on what had happened. Throughout the song, he mentions Andrew Auernheimer, an alt-right hacker and internet troll which connects to the name of the song: Life: The Biggest Troll. As mentioned earlier, ‘emotional rollercoaster” is the perfect way to describe this piece. Anger, pain, loss, sadness, smugness, arrogance, hate, love, and so many more words are how I would describe this album. I can’t imagine how an actor turned musician could make a body of work so content filled with such a tight schedule. If you think about it, it shouldn’t have worked, but it did. Granted, Childish Gambino AKA Donald Glover didn’t do it by himself. He had alot of production help on nearly every track from earlier mentioned composer and producer: Ludwig Göransson. The lyrics in this project are very personal, meaning they all derive from his own experience which many people relate to, and I think that’s what made it so special for so many people. Personally, I love this album, and I can understand why some people wouldn’t, it definitely doesn’t go with the flow, but that’s what’s so powerful about it.
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