Ellie weighs in on Childish Gambino’s new album.
If you’ve seen Donald Glover on NBC’s hilarious show “Community”— light hearted, cracking jokes and sleeping in a bunk bed with his best friend—this is not that same Donald Glover. This Donald Glover, who goes by the stage name Childish Gambino, grew up poor, got bullied, was by no means cool, yet to his critic’s disbelief, made a kick ass album. “Camp” shows a side of Glover that I was not expecting; it’s darker, more reflective and personal than the usual TV persona people are used to seeing. His first music video, for his song “Bonfire”, opens with Childish Gambino at the base of a tree, coughing up blood, a cut noose around his neck, having miraculously survived an attempted hanging (how’s that for dark?). Camp is an album that no doubt making a distinction between the two sides of Glover, the actor and the rapper—the pretend and the reality.
The album starts off with “Outside”, a revealing look into Glover’s childhood and his struggle to get out of poverty. He raps about his fight to fit in, to be accepted into life in the projects growing up, and still the struggle today to be accepted after he managed to leave. He raps in his song “Firefly”, “Fuck you! I’m from the projects/My mom was just workin’ to give me options/No live shows ‘cuz I can’t find sponsors/For the only black kid at a Sufjan concert.”While it is often masked by clever metaphors and humor, it’s a theme that flows throughout the album: overcoming naysayers and fighting with the preconceived notions of what was expected of him.
Still despite Glover’s personal issues with his past, he still is out to set an example. “You won’t speak to the hood, man/If I was given one chance I think I could, man/These black kids want somethin’ new, I swear it/Somethin’ they wanna say but couldn’t ‘cuz they embarrassed”—one of the many honest and refreshing statement that sets “Camp” apart from so many other rap records. It’s a perfect mix of creative and heavy beats with honest and creative lyrics. Make sure to check out my favorites off the album: Firefly, Bonfire, You See Me and Sunrise.
Childish Gambino's new Album, Camp
Photo credit to Consequenceofsound.net
