Filed under: music
See that guy above? That’s comedian Donald Glover. I said a few years ago (to myself. Like I was just muttering to myself one day under my breath, per usual. Maybe more grumbling than muttering, but still. Something like that.) that he’d be pretty damn successful in the entertainment world. The thing is, I was making this assumption solely because of his outstanding work in comedy. You’ve probably been linked to YouTube videos of his NYU internet sketch comedy group, Derrick Comedy, sometime in the last four years. Here’s one of their clips that has 5 million views:
All of these videos are funny as hell, and he’s often the standout performer in the clips. Anyway, the man graduated from NYU in ’06 and right after college started writing for 30 Rock, although you probably had no idea he was doing that (I know I didn’t before I saw him on some late night talk show discussing it all). If you watch the NBC show Community, then you’re familiar with his recurring role as the former high school quarterback Troy Barnes. I won’t fake like I watch the show, but I did think this was one of the better things I saw on YouTube last year:
Exactly. He’s hilarious and incredibly talented. So hilarious and incredibly talented that I went ahead and spent my hard-earned cash grabbing his his 15-minute Comedy Central special that aired in March on iTunes. I won’t lie, it isn’t nearly as awesome as Aziz Ansari‘s was, but he held his own for sure. At this point, I was scouring the internet so hard for more Don Glover material that one would think I was a groupie of sorts. But whatever. If I didn’t go so HAM sandwich searching, I wouldn’t have stumbled upon his music.
Yeah, I said it. His music. Apparently, he’s been producing and rapping over electro-esque/hip-hop beats for a while under the name Childish Gambino (Editor’s Note: WHAT!? RIGHT!? HOW MUCH TRILLER CAN A NAME GET!? MY GOODNESS!) and dropped a few tapes in the last two years. The first project I got my grubby paws hands on was called I Am Not A Rapper, where he flowed over a rack of awesome indie beats (Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks,” Neon Indian’s “Deadbeat Summer”, that type of stuff.) I’m fairly confident that anybody who heard the tape and wasn’t familiar with the songs he jumped on would go out of their way to hear the originals. That’s how good his beat choice was. You remember how Wale jumped on that Justice track, or how Wiz Khalifa jumped on that Empire of the Sun track? It’s like that times 1,302. You be the judge.
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If you can look past the fact that he’s a comedian (which you’re gonna have to do, buster), then you’ll respect each bar he spits. For the most part, it’s a lot of $#!t talking. Very, very well-warrented $#!t talking. if you pay attention, you can piece together his life story, from growing up in a struggling household and being teased for being the “weird black kid” at a predominately white school to pulling bad ass chicks due to his recent success and blowing money on gear that he’ll most likely never put on just because he can. As much as you say “Oh, everybody’s rapping about that stuff,” it’s so much more intriguing if you’ve followed his professional career. And if you feel like there’s a chunk missing, it’s because the stuff he doesn’t rap about is the stuff you already see him doing, like acting and doing stand-up. Respectable.
On his latest (and greatest, in my opinion) effort, Culdesac, it’s more of the same greatness. Very therapeutic for him I’m sure. Surprisingly impressive original beats (I’m not sure who produced them, but if he did, then he’s officially a problem.). He even sings a bit. You thought Drake was a singing rapper? Just listen to the guy do it over an acoustic version of ”Got This Money” real quick:
Did you just hear that? No effects added. No funny auto-tune. His falsetto makes The-Dream uneasy about his next career move. I don’t even think me writing more about Donald Childish Gambino would help. You just need to grab this. Jam this sample; the tape can be found below the audio player.
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DOWNLOAD: Childish Gambino – Culdesac
That link will take you to a place where you can direct download the album, plus stream all the joints in case the songs you heard didn’t move you. If I came back to the internet after months of no posts to write this, you’ve gotta take my word. Let me know what you think. Don’t rush it, either. Soak this tape in.
UPDATE:
Mr. Donald Glover himself somehow stumbled across the blog post, and hit me on Twitter:
I didn’t even send it to him. I’d much rather famous people stumble across my stuff I write about them than force-feeding them to read it. And it just worked out. This is why I do this stuff – to put people on to the overlooked and underappreciated. It’s not just music. It’s everybody. That’s what The Gee Pee will hopefully do a little more of.
BONUS: