Pitt students got to listen to the new Childish Gambino album early

Last night I was given the opportunity to attend an early release party of the new Childish Gambino album Awaken, My Love held by Universal Music Group in Towers Lobby. The event was open to all students to allow them to enjoy the album before the rest of the country had access to it.

The event was headed by Zach Linn, a Pitt Student and Regional College Marketing Representative for Universal Music Group. He and Pitt’s very own WPTS radio station not only provided students with a great musical and social event, but they also provided cookies and album posters for those in attendance. If you offer free food, you’ve planned an event correctly.

Photo provided by Zach Linn (Pitt Student, Psychology Major)

That concludes my review of the actual event. To this reporter, it was undoubtedly a success and the effort is much appreciated. But what about the album itself? I mean, that’s why most of us came to the event right?

Assuming you weren’t just in in for the cookies, you showed up to hear the highly anticipated project from rapper, actor, writer and comedian (yes he does all of that) Donald Glover, A.K.A. Childish Gambino. Let’s remind ourselves of what else Gambino has done recently.

photo provided by Zach Linn (Pitt Student, Psychology Major)

Under the name Childish Gambino, Glover has released two full major-label rap/hip-hop albums: 2011’s Camp and 2013’s Because the Internet. Both albums ended up being polarizing from a critical standpoint, with most either loving each one or finding both to be mediocre at best and terribly annoying at worst.

The main problems that seemed to plague those albums revolved around cohesiveness, both musically and thematically. Despite having an entertaining flow and an undeniable talent for wordplay, each of Glover’s previous full projects were very uneven in terms of the choices they made. Each had some nice songs (“That Power” and “Sweatpants” come to mind) but the message and music of both flew in and out of focus, which made each project suffer when viewed as a whole.

Photo provided by Universal Music Group

Which makes me happy to say Awaken, My Love is by far the most complete and focused album Childish Gambino has ever released. Seems like all he had to do was switch musical styles completely. Instead of his traditionally bar-spitting nerd rap, the new album is a funky and soulful RnB record from the get-go. As soon as Donald abruptly enters the album’s opener “Me and Your Mama”, the energy and intent of the album is apparent.

Awaken, My Love has the opposite problem that the first two Bino albums suffered from. Camp and Because the Internet had great moments, but weren’t consistent enough to be good albums in my opinion. This time around, Glover has crafted a record that is greater than the sum of its parts. Individually, there were only a few songs that truly wowed me (the opener and “Redbone”), but what this album has that previous Bino works didn’t is the overall consistent sound of the record. The music of Childish Gambino has always been kinetic. This is the first time it feels that none of that energy has been wasted.

Another aspect that needs mentioning is Glover’s vocals on the album. To be completely honest, I’ve always thought he was much better as a singer than he was as an MC. So you can imagine how pleasing this record is to someone of that opinion. There is not a single rap to be had anywhere on Awaken, My Love. Instead, Bino channels the late Prince, and the results are much more rewarding than the Kanye and Drake homages on his previous works.

Overall, this record is pulled through by its impassioned vocal performance and laser-focused sound. It knows what it wants to be, and it does it fairly well. That’s the mark of a good album.