Previous story (Nov. 7): Childish Gambino fans have been waiting for new music forever now but he seems more focused on his hit TV show Atlanta at the moment.
The drought may still be over as the actor/rapper is reportedly releasing a new album titled Awaken, My Love! on December 2nd. A user on Reddit discovered the new album listing on All Music which also mentioned the release date.
Upon further investigation, we found out that the album is also available for pre-order on Amazon UK with Glassnote as the label, as we would expect. There is no official word on the album yet and that isn’t surprising since the new norm is to keep things under wraps till very late.
Donald Glover hasn’t released new music in a long time, except for the little tease of a new song he did on episode 5 of Atlanta back in September. If Awaken, My Love! is indeed the title, that would also mean that Pharos was a name solely for the camping event he organised at the Joshua Tree National Park in California in first week of September.
1. Me And Your Mama // Download
2. Have Some Love // Download
3. Boogieman // Download
4. Zombies // Download
5. Riot // Download
6. Redbone // Download
7. California // Download
8. Terrified // Download
9. Baby Boy // Download
10. The Night Me And Your Mama Met // Download
11. Stand Tall // Download
Having left his full-time role on the hit comedy Community to concentrate on music, rapper Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino gets broader and bolder on his 2013 effort Because the Internet, an indulgent kaleidoscope of studio tricks and celebrity problems that's still wildly attractive thanks to its smarts and ability to swing. That latter bit comes courtesy of primary producers Glover and Ludwig Goransson, who mix the edgy sounds of indie rap and indie pop with the best the mainstream world of R&B has to offer. Cool, radio-friendly crooner Lloyd shows up on the creamy West Coast dream called 'Telegraph Ave.,' while '3005' comes with a chorus so uplifting and bright, it makes the nerdy stay-at-home wallflower at its center sound epic and sexy. The booming influence of the A$AP Mob is felt on numerous cloudy cuts like the grand 'Worldstar,' where popping pills at Coachella, a Martin Scorsese reference, and a twisted sax solo all congeal into a dank glop of hip-hop hash oil. Then there are all the instrumental interludes that divide the album into chapters or suites, because this one reaches for art with some interruptions for getting flashy on 'The Worst Guys' (where Chance the Rapper is merely Chance the Hypeman) and crashing on the couch for either a spliff, or maybe spliff and a sweet snuggle, with Jhené Aiko's 'Pink Toes.' All of it flows splendidly and Gambino's wit, hipness, and lyrical dexterity are all still strong points, with 'I got more tail than Petco,' 'More green than my Whole Foods/And I'm too Fly, Jeff Goldblum,' plus a reference to the 'Ain't Nobody Got Time for That' meme being some examples. Still, even with all these strong points, Gambino often frames his angst and anger with the burden of being born rich (something he mentions quite often on the album), providing plenty of 'we should all have such problems' bait or 'hierarchy of needs' ammunition, depending on the listener's viewpoint/bank account. Even the short 'The Party' finds him inviting friends over and then yelling at them to get the 'F' out, but there's long been a wide gap between the life experience of rappers and their fans, something supported by the growling background vocals on 'Crawl' provided by Mystikal, an MC who did plenty of hard time when most of his fans have not. Connecting with the album is nearly impossible, understanding it is difficult, and often enough, its inflated ego is irksome, but Because the Internet is too free and fascinating to be dragged down by these complaints, so if a Yeezus with more flash and fun is what's required, Gambino's got the good stuff.
Title/Composer | Performer | Time |
---|---|---|
1 | 0:04 | |
2 | 3:29 | |
3 | 4:04 | |
4 | 0:44 | |
5 | 3:39 | |
6 | Donald Glover / Ludwig Göransson | 3:51 |
7 | Donald Glover / Ludwig Göransson / Rochelle Jordan | 3:30 |
8 | 3:00 | |
9 | Donald Glover / Ludwig Göransson / Stefan Ponce | 3:54 |
10 | 0:54 | |
11 | Donald Glover / Ludwig Göransson / Pop Levi | 1:31 |
12 | 2:51 | |
13 | 0:43 | |
14 | 5:44 | |
15 | Donald Glover / Ludwig Göransson / L. Robinson | 4:50 |
16 | 1:13 | |
17 | Donald Glover / Ludwig Göransson / Stefan Ponce | 3:27 |
18 | 4:42 | |
19 | Donald Glover / Ludwig Göransson | 5:42 |
Feels Like Summer on Feels Like Summer | 4:57 |
Summertime Magic on Summertime Magic | 3:33 |
Redbone [Explicit] on 'Awaken, My Love!' [Explicit] | 5:26 |
This Is America [Explicit] on This Is America [Explicit] | 3:45 |
3005 [Explicit] on Because the Internet [Explicit] | 3:54 |
Me and Your Mama on 'Awaken, My Love!' [Explicit] | 6:19 |
Heartbeat [Explicit] on Camp [Explicit] | 4:29 |
This Is America [Clean] on This Is America [Clean] | 3:45 |
Retro (Rough) [Explicit] on Kauai [Explicit] | 3:22 |
Sober on Kauai | 4:12 |