IM: WHUSDJ
CURRENT SHOW
Dark Side of the Highway
Song - Artist - Album
Where Have All the Heroes Gone? (2012) - 2-Bit Palomino - Rides Again, Songdog
.jpg)
It seems that being a wildly successful comedian, writer and actor wasn't enough for Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino. To be a full quadruple threat he tried his hand at rapping as well. Legend has it that he got the name "Childish Gambino" from a Wu Tang Clan name generator. After releasing several successful mixtapes and a truimphant single "Freaks and Geeks" he looked ready to enter mainstream culture. "Camp" is his entrance to the world.
He basically just wrote raps about what he would like to hear in a rap song. While most of his past mixtapes have had more of an upbeat theme, "Camp" is a more retrospective look at where he came from and what built him to this point. He shares all the insults people made at his expense early in his childhood and the way people look at him before and after his fame.
2. Fire Fly
3. Bonfire - A song in the same vain as his smash "Freaks and Geeks". Its a very aggressive statement of his excllence. One of the unique aspects of Gambino's style is the metaphors he employs in his raps. My personal favorite being "These rappers are afraid of him/I'm a beast bitch, Gir, Invader Zim" referencing the Nick cartoon from years before.
5. Letter Home
6. Heartbeat
7. Backpackers
8. L.E.S.
9. Hold You Down
10. Kids (Keep Up)
11. You See Me - Not my personal favorite track on the album but with one of the best references on the CD with line "Asian Girls everywhere, UCLA". It is a great allusion to the youtube video of that girl from UCLA complaining about the asian presence on her campus. This song again is a version of Donald's gloating but not in as metaphorically pleasing way. I also find the chorus repetitve and seems more fit for a mixtape then his debut album. I would have prefered to see an album version of "Freaks and Geeks" here.
12. Sunrise - My personal favorite song on the album is buried at the bottom. The album of "Camp" has a lot of songs about Donald's struggle to make it out of the ghetto, Stay real, be accepted by his white friends and his strive for fame. While those are all great for providing context on who Childish Gambino is, the give the album a somber mood. With "Sunrise" we get an uplifting track where Donald has made it and looks back on how he got there. It has him challenging those who doubted him and still asserting his brilliance. Again the song isn't without brilliant metaphors like "my stuff be Jackson, Jordan, Bolton, Keaton, Tyson: 5 Mikes" alluding to The Source Magazine's highest rating for an album. Childish Gambino really demonstrates all facets of his talent on this song
13. That Power