Soon after the internet caught on to his Childish Gambino rap alter ego, I remember seeing an interview with Donald Glover about his lyrical content, why he raps, and his reaction to the critics and naysayers of the comedian-actor-rapper. The part that stood out most was his realization that not everyone was gonna like his music; or maybe even more epiphanic for Black Spiderman, was not everyone is going to like him. But despite that, he still has to try; he’s going to be himself, never saturate it, even if people are going to criticize him (yes, we are all critics). But maybe, if he continues to do that soundly and honestly, people will realize, “hey, that guy’s not too bad”. As he declares through a clever play on words on “Bonfire,” “I put my soul on the track like shoes did.” Donald Glover, providing a lively and stirring performance of the highly anticipated release of his studio album “Camp” in its entirety, accomplished exactly that at the Brooklyn Bowl on Halloween night in NYC.
Camp‘s content, what I gathered from this short preview, is similar, in a sense, to Gambino’s other work: girls, asian girls, armenian girls on his sofa, drinking addiction and hints of childhood social strife. In no way does this lack of topical versatility (or consistency, depending on how you view it) lessen his creative range or hinder his skill. He’s been one of the bright spots in the plethora of new rappers coming out every three seconds (my guess being that he is just quite different from the mode). But, from what we begin to gather while hearing Camp on Monday, Childish Gambino is giving us a more in depth look into him, delving into a variety of topics, and maybe not coincidentally hinting at his life views in this aforementioned interview.
On “Outside“, speaking on social issues and his parents leaving a broken neighborhood, he recites:
“So I’m talkin’ hood shit and coolin’ now like New Edition, mom and dad wouldn’t listen/ they left the Bronx so I wouldn’t be that, all their friends in N.Y. deal crack/ it’s weird, you think that they’d be proud of em, but when you leave the hood they think that you look down on em” (cleverly mixing the subjects at the end… dope)
“Bonfire” is a hard hitting, raging anthem that one could have easily seen Weezy on, where Donald’s fierce braggadocio and clever wordplay could compete with any great lyricist.
Ludwig Goransson, who composes for various shows on NBC and is Gambino’s producer, was conveniently there as Donald’s right hand man, literally to the right of him, providing intense energy while his guitar weeped… violently. Ludwig’s musical dexterity and broad scope guided the performance along nicely. On “All the Shine” we see the self-esteemed Donald who asks “What’s the point of rapping if you can’t be yourself, huh?”
On the thirteenth and final track, “That Power,” he invokes empathy on the complex issues of black vs. white identity through his personal experiences. It’s nice to see this versatile Childish Gambino. It proves that rappers can grow and be themselves, (even though he is just in the Spring of his career) and as Donald Glover does just that, we can be assured that he will continue to give us the real.
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