![]() It is one hell of a performance, and that's before he swamps his voice in reverb, shifts it up a semitone for an entire song on 'Redbone', and adds all sorts of warping filter and effects to match a female backing choir that doesn't seem to fall as soulful, gospel, or symphonic. And that's not counting points like the Funkadelic-inspired multi-tracking of the hook of 'Have Some Love' which contrasts his oddly swallowed vocals on the verses, the blend of croaking howls, squeals, twisted sneers and warped overdubs on 'Boogieman', and the obvious Sly & The Family Stone influence on 'Baby Boy'. ![]() His howling on 'Me And Your Mama' and 'Riot' is raw to the point of sounding painful, his almost comical exaggerated emphasis on 'Zombies' - complete with autotune - and then you add in the autotuned mumble-croon of 'California' and the languid crooning of 'Terrified'. well, the most you'll see of that are moments, most prominently on 'Stand Tall', because the contortions he puts his vocals through are something to behold. If you were fond of his more restrained singing voice that cropped up on previous records. and wow, I can his delivery and performance here being divisive, and not just because he's not rapping. So let's start off with Childish Gambino himself. Now it's not as good as that other record - in fact, there's a part of me that's still not quite sure where I fall on this album as a whole, it's a bizarre listen - but I understand it, and with that knowledge I can appreciate it a hell of a lot more. And then, at about a dozen listens in, it clicked, thanks to a coincidental listen through another record that's not even in the same genre and yet shares a stunning number of parallels with this. Reviewing any Childish Gambino record is always a heavily involved affair, but this one was a doozie, especially considering he almost completely left hip-hop behind for a blend of funk, soul, blues rock and R&B, the sort of genre-bending that left me frustrated and confused with the lead-off singles and a little nervous that I would be left not able to like his newest album as much as I'd like. ![]() Okay, I have to be honest: this album was a really hard one to crack. But again, I was only seeing fragments of the story, I had to hope the whole project - his shortest in some time - would have the focus and clarity to work - was I right? And those sorts of chances and effort are inspiring and powerful stuff, something I can relate to on a certain level - I just wish his aesthetic and craftsmanship of his sound and narratives worked better for me.Īnd that was my big concern going into "Awaken, My Love!" - mostly because while I admired his lead-off singles, I didn't love the sound or artistic choices. but between his cartoonish exaggerations that occasionally slide towards campiness, often masking deeper wells of rage and self-loathing, and a genuine feeling of earnestness that can either hit transcendence or deeply felt awkwardness, he comes across as the sort of precocious yet driven creator who is not afraid to aim high, overshare, hit big and miss hard. Relistening to his debut Camp and his much-lauded follow-up Because The Internet will give you plenty of evidence why Childish Gambino is a compelling presence behind the microphone as a charismatic rapper and singer. There's an defined artistic style and voice that's always been present, that will then veer in unexpected directions made from a pastiche of indie music, southern hip-hop, and bizarre pop culture references, all amidst a creative mind that's incredibly ambitious but also painfully self-aware. The odd blend of styles and production - most outside of his mixtapes which are done in-house with producer Ludwig Goransson - that are present in his music often juxtapose with lyrics that often feel intensely personal or eclectic. Whether you know him from his comedy sketches to his writing work on 30 Rock to the cult classic Community to his soon-to-be classic show Atlanta, he's a man of extraordinary talent, and that's before we get to his stand-up or his work as a musician and songwriter.īut if I'm also being brutally honest, I feel I should like his music a lot more than I do. Hell, I get the feeling a lot of critics do, mostly because it's so damn rare to see an artist leap so fully formed and relentlessly talented across genres and indeed entire mediums. I feel like I have a complicated relationship with Childish Gambino.
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