some thoughts re: Donald Glover

(because this is what Tumblr is for, right? The SOPA blackout makes everything you post feel trivial)

I think that “Camp” was more or less a total failure, but I believe in him as a very smart guy who has a way with words and comic timing, so I want to think that he could make something very good eventually. 

The tone of “Camp” (and what made it so unbearably heavy-handed) was its tone, which seemed to say “Yeah, I’m a comic, but I’m also a very serious rapper, and you will fucking take me seriously, okay??” 

What he tragically missed is the fact that you can tell compelling stories and make a serious, compelling point by way of comedy/comic timing the way Das Racist does. 

Gambino got a bad rap in the hip-hop community because no one wanted to cosign his weak shit (h/t blueprint) but I think that Heems might have seen something in him, and I support those two hanging out and making tracks together, even if Gambino’s verse on “Womyn” wasn’t brilliant, and maybe Heems was just using that verse’s mild misogyny to contrast his verse. 

Whatever the case, I thought it was pretty cool. 

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140 plays

womyn 2 (feat. childish gambino) by himanshu

i’m makin out to the ‘Drive’ soundtrack
i’d die to sound black
but i’m stuck with this happy-go-lucky attitude 

“…the most insidious aspect of Camp is how Glover operates from a pre-Kanye inferiority complex where he senses that any dismissal of his music stems from gangsta rap still being the predominant aesthetic version of hip-hop. This much is obvious from the tone-deaf “All of the Shine,” and especially “Backpackers”, a preemptive strike at his always-male, usually educated haters. Note how its title co-opts the one epithet more outdated than “hipster” in rap music circa 2011… How does Glover explain Drake? Is he “crazy or hood,” or just a half-Jewish, former child actor from Toronto who’s already sold 600,000 copies of Take Care while signed to Lil Wayne’s record label? I mean, sub-major hip-hop isn’t a post-cred, post-racial utopia by any means, but I can’t think of another time when there were more options for listeners of just about any race or background seeking to identify with rappers on a non-allegorical level.”           -Ian Cohen Part of the reason I dislike most white rappers is because they tend to draw most of their subject matter from the jumbo-sized chip on their shoulder that they insist on carrying due to their position as a white rapper. Why Donald Glover chose to carry the same chip is totally beyond me, as is his need to create an imaginary pop music paradigm in which he is the alternative to Lil Jon.  I don’t disagree with anything Cohen said here, though I think the album has a few redeeming qualities that he chose to ignore, the biggest among them being that Glover has an obvious talent for language (hashtag raps aside). Maybe that’s why it’s so frustrating that he’s wasting it on this awfully misguided persona of his.

“…the most insidious aspect of Camp is how Glover operates from a pre-Kanye inferiority complex where he senses that any dismissal of his music stems from gangsta rap still being the predominant aesthetic version of hip-hop. This much is obvious from the tone-deaf “All of the Shine,” and especially “Backpackers”, a preemptive strike at his always-male, usually educated haters. Note how its title co-opts the one epithet more outdated than “hipster” in rap music circa 2011
… How does Glover explain Drake? Is he “crazy or hood,” or just a half-Jewish, former child actor from Toronto who’s already sold 600,000 copies of Take Care while signed to Lil Wayne’s record label? I mean, sub-major hip-hop isn’t a post-cred, post-racial utopia by any means, but I can’t think of another time when there were more options for listeners of just about any race or background seeking to identify with rappers on a non-allegorical level.”

          -Ian Cohen

Part of the reason I dislike most white rappers is because they tend to draw most of their subject matter from the jumbo-sized chip on their shoulder that they insist on carrying due to their position as a white rapper. Why Donald Glover chose to carry the same chip is totally beyond me, as is his need to create an imaginary pop music paradigm in which he is the alternative to Lil Jon. 

I don’t disagree with anything Cohen said here, though I think the album has a few redeeming qualities that he chose to ignore, the biggest among them being that Glover has an obvious talent for language (hashtag raps aside). Maybe that’s why it’s so frustrating that he’s wasting it on this awfully misguided persona of his.

The record is a needlessly melodramatic affair of post-Drake emo rap set to a preposterous amount of strings and choral chanting. Glover spends a sizable portion of ‘Camp’ playing away from his undeniable talents as a comedic performer choosing to kick eye-rolling, sex punch lines and “woe is me” tropes over ridiculously histrionic production.

Doc Zeus in “An Open Letter To America Regarding Donald Glover’s Career“ 

I’m kind of on the fence about Childish Gambino most of the time.

Well, most of the time I lean in the “hater-ish” direction, but there’s something about “Camp…” I’ve been calling lots of things a “compelling trainwreck” lately - I don’t necessarily think it’s good as a whole, but there’s definitely a strong voice and point of view there and I don’t think it deserves to be written off entirely. But at the same time, I’m with Doc Zeus on this one. 

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break (all of the lights sample) by childish gambino

from B. Michael’s Music Diary:

I downloaded a mixtape by Mac Miller because I thought it had something to do with Donald Glover. I can’t tell right away, so I’m going to try to figure it out. In the meantime, I put on the “All of the Lights” Childish Gambino song that came out today.

Hollering at this Japanese girl.
Asian mommy.
But is it too soon for Japanese girls?
Too tsunami?
Is it racist to say she tastes like edamame? Was I supposed to stay uncool? Please remind me.

Well, since you asked, here are the correct answers: Yes. Yes. Yes. If being racist means becoming “cool,” yes.

I turn off this Donald Glover track after this first verse because I’m sick of his shit. The production is pretty crisp. I’m not sure that he (unlike, sorry, again, Odd Future) is bringing a lot of energy and subversion to the picture. It sounds like he’s just trying on a lot of rap tropes and seeing which make him “tough” or “cool.” At least he’s very upfront in this song. It seems pretty clear that Glover equates boorishness with coolness for some reason. This song’s not exactly the nuanced picture of things I thought he was doing).

I’m not sure if I agree with B. Michael entirely, but at the same time, I don’t have a sharp rebuttal, so I think this comment needs to be heard.

[download]

via three50eight:imwithkanye:

(via ketchupandbeer)

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tryouts (remix with childish gambino) by javelin

wow, this is so much better than the original “let me dope you” from culdesac!

via the lovely femmerun

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127 plays

trulyamockingbird:

Childish Gambino - Put It In My Video

I’m writin’ movies where I’m makin’ out with Aubrey Plaza. And homegirl my homegirl, it is not like that, but if she tried to rape me, I would not fight back.

Sometimes I have mixed feelings about Childish Gambino.

I never, ever have mixed feelings about Aubrey Plaza. I have a serious Aubrey Plaza condition.

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Bitch, Look At Me Now by Childish Gambino
(Donald Glover rapping over “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear)

“you started rappin when you wasn’t good at basketball
i started rappin cuz I fuckin need some adderall
i can’t do one thing - i’m just too good
i can’t do one thing - i am tiger woods
i’ll make your ipod hotter than I lighter could”

I had a discussion with Tim about this set of lyrics in which he told me he thought the Tiger Woods line was weak “because Tiger Woods pretty much just plays golf.” I said “No, Timothy, that line is a reference to Tiger’s notable issues with monogamy.”

This clearly bruised Tim’s ego and I really shouldn’t rub it in by writing about it here, so I really kind of hope he misses this post.

(via annahinks: philip-gets-it-together)

The latest efforts in music blogging from Andrew Alan McClain.

21, junior at the University of Central Arkansas, journalism major.

This is my music blog.

email me your most whimsical thoughts at andrewmcclain3@gmail.com