Monday, December 2, 2013

album watch: because the internet


With a little over a week left for the much-hyped release of Childish Gambino's sophomore album, Because the Internet, he has pretty much been keeping us at his fingertips, methodically releasing various tracks to give us time to chew on them. The album features guest appearances from Chance, Jhene Aiko, and Azealia Banks, with production by Thundercat, Ludwig Göransson (who produced some songs off of Camp and the Royalty mixtape), Christian Rich, and Childish himself, among others. If you've been out of the loop on the timeline of his released tracks, this should bring you up to speed.




Yaphet Kotto (song preview)



One of the first track previews that Donald dropped back in the beginning of November. Bringing back that classic 'Bino flow we're used to over a sample of what sounds like '90s female R&B vocals, he's letting his fans know he's still in his prime. Quick vocal pitch switches, clever puns ("Like Avengers keep it Loki", that is witty as fuck), self-deprecation, and references to his dick. Yes, we can confirm this is the Childish Gambino we've been listening to, the CG we've been anticipating, and apparently the one we're going to get in the near future. A nice preview of the quality production we can expect too, all while watching a slow pan of him slowly drowning in a swimming pool.

3005 (official lyric video) 

This sound of this track reminded me a lot of "We Ain't Them" from his Royalty mixtape. Smooth, catchy synths and some bongo drums, incorporated in an intricate beat with a moderate tempo and a decent bass. He takes the synthesizer to the next level during the chorus infused with sweet vocals provided by yours truly. In this song, Bino raps about his thoughts on loneliness, affection, and self-contemplation - overall he's kind of being emo, but it's totally masked by the uplifting beat of this track. The lyric video was pretty clever, as the song is basically presented as Childish pouring his heart out to a cam girl, played by Abella Anderson (yes, she does porn). One of my favourites from what he's released so far.

Shadows (live from The Arsenio Hall Show)

Backed up by a live band courtesy of the Arsenio Hall show and a chubbier version of Jimi Hendrix, "Shadows" starts off with some very beautiful harmonizing, probably the best singing we've heard Childish Gambino as of yet. The casualness of his set matches the mood of this song so perfectly, with Donald starting the song on the couch, then nonchalantly migrating to the stage to finish it. This song showcases his ability to switch his vocal pitch in the midst of rapping, and singing obviously, but mainly focusing on his vocals. Being a hip-hop artist we tend to forget CG can sing too, and he's not letting us forget that.

Sweatpants (leaked track)



Glover throws away his emotional baggage on this one, surprising us with a percussion-heavy track reminding you how poor you are. Although the musicality may be different, and the melody is lacking, he sticks to what he’s comfortable with: egoistic insults with more punch lines than a worldstar video. The repetitive bass and cymbal kicks throughout the song allow him to use the whole 4 minutes to discuss his lavish life to the fullest, which comes as a result of his hard work, he implies. This head-bobber will have you wondering whether Bino is just being facetious or if he’s really taking shots at those silver spoon coons.

Telegraph Ave (released track)



In comparison to his other songs, “Telegraph Ave” is a more laid-back R&B-based song. He reveals his soft side, reflecting on his lifestyle and relationship with a certain someone. This track is laden with smooth vocals by CG, accompanied by dope instrumentals. The light reverb, foggy but embracing chords, experimental beats, all appear to be meticulously put together. He ditches the classic hashtag rap on his verse, following a more streamlined flow. The song ends off gently with deep echoes and fading of the instrumental, probably making you want ot hit that play button one more time.

Worldstar (released track) 

WorldStar, an ode to YouTube's cool and urbanized brother, is a guaranteed banger. With a beat that slaps like crazy, heavy bass, and a disconnected flow, this is the type of song you want playing in the car when you're cruising with the homies. Instead of the continuous spitting we've been hearing on the other released tracks, we get more of a series of short outbursts and interruptions, kind of like what you'd expect in a WorldStar fight video: a couple decent jabs, followed by pacing in a circle, repeat, then bam - knockout, all while some dude in the background is obnoxiously screaming "Wuuurl staaaaah". Starting off with a dark vibe, actual samples from WorldStar videos, the song finishes by transitioning into a state of fusion-jazz accompanied with smooth keyboard chords and a trippy saxophone solo.

Crawl (concert snippet from Las Vegas show)



The beat drop on this song was heavy A.F. The CDQ is going to be nasty.

Donald didn't only promote the new album with songs. Because The Internet is more of a creative ensemble - a piece of art as a whole, to be specific. Here's a short film he dropped a while ago, Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, directed by Hiro Murai. The short features a lot of his famous friends: Chance the Rapper, Flying Lotus, Abella Anderson (that bootylicious bitch you saw in the 3005 video), Trinidad James, and more.



And here's an even shorter film, titled No Mouth Emoji, which showcases a small snippet of an unknown song off of BTI.



He was very strict on how he wanted to reveal the album, which he revealed in a series of frustrated tweets, after the song "Sweatpants" was leaked.




On top of all this, Because The Internet comes in an exquisite packaging format, seen below.


I think we can safely agree that Donald Glover has been polishing his talents since Camp, and we'll have yet to see what all his time was focused on since he left NBC's Community. Because The Internet is available in stores and on iTunes on December 10.

AK & TD
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