Ty Listens to Childish Gambino's "3.15.20"

Donald Glover, AKA Childish Gambino, released a surprise new record last week. I, was dealing with some stress, as most of us are right now, so I forgot to stream it on his website. But, the other night I was blowing off some steam, riding the recumbent bike in my basement, and I remembered that he had put out a new record. And, much to my pleasure, he released it on all streaming platforms, so I hit up my Spotify and immediately downloaded it and listened while I exercised the stress and anxiety away.

On first listen, and believe me when I say that I will be listening a bunch more, I enjoyed, for the most part, what I heard. First off, I need to, as everyone else should, not compare it to "Awaken My Love". That record is a masterpiece, and it will go down as one of the best records of the 21st century, hands down. I don't think anyone can deny that. I haven't met a person that doesn't enjoy some part of that album. It's exquisite. But, I did expect something akin to "Awaken My Love". I assumed that he was going to stay in the R&B/soul/funk genre of music. I love his rapping. I think he is a very good emcee. I like the way he flows. But the stuff he showed on "Awaken My Love" blew me, and everyone else, away, so I just figured that he was that type of singer/musician now. And there are definitely elements of that on "3.15.20". The songs all have dates as their titles, and some of the songs have the same feel as stuff off of "AML".

The opener is very funky, with some electronic sounds mixed in. It is all instrumental as well. But as the album goes in, it is almost like Glover decided he was going to take pieces from "AML" and "Because the Internet", his second record. I like both of these, and to hear them blended together, it works. I have said multiple times that Glover is in a space right now where he can, pretty much, do no wrong. I am going to like whatever he puts out there, be it music, a new TV show or a role in a movie. Hell, he was, by a wide margin, the best part of "Solo". "Atlanta" is one of the best shows on TV right now. And now with "3.15.20". he has just furthered my belief in him. The album has some solid, funky tones to it. There are some songs that go as long as seven minutes, something I am not a huge fan of, but they work because they are so groovy, and Glover throws in some rapping, or singing, and it just works.

Glover is a very solid rapper, like I said before, and ever since "AML", he has shown how great of a singer he really is. Hell, he even showed that in the new "Lion King" movie. He sings as well as Beyoncé. Yeah, I said it. And his singing shows up tenfold in "3.15.20". He hits those crazy high notes, Teddy Pendergrass style is some of the songs. It takes me back to the older funk music that I listen to regularly. I know he gets compared to Parliament Funkadelic a lot now, and that is a very apt comparison. It is perfect actually. But what makes him stand out as Childish Gambino is his ability to shift from singing super high notes on one song, to becoming a full fledged rapper on the next. His rapping on this record is very good, and like I stated before, it reminds me of his stuff off "Because the Internet". That record is a bit more of a slow burn, but with each extra listen, the more I grew to love it. I feel like that will be the same with "3.15.20", except I may grow to love to sooner because of the mixing of genres.

"3.15.20" is a very good record. It is also nice that he put it out now because, we should all be self isolating, and anytime there is some new music, it is a nice way to break up the monotony of the day. I enjoyed hearing it while I worked out, but when my kids have a break in their home schooling, I will listen. When my wife is on teleconference meeting in her downstairs office, I will listen. And when my wife and I have free time together at night, when the kids are in bed, I will play it for her so she can hear.

I hope more artists follow Glover's lead and release their new material while we are all self isolating. But, as usual, Glover is the first to do it because he is a leader, and because he knows his stuff is for almost everyone. This record is good, and it will continue to be played in my home for the foreseeable future.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Listens to Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!"

Last Friday, December 2nd, Childish Gambino released his third album, "Awaken, My Love!".

I adore this record.

For those that do not know, Childish Gambino is Donald Glover's alter rap ego. Glover is an actor, comedian, creator, writer, director, and rapper. He is one of the most talented performers working today. I became aware of his rapping about 7 years ago. He was deep in his run on "Community", and I had heard rumblings that he was going to put out a record, and had some mixtapes that were floating around the internet. I was intrigued. I first thought it was going to be jokey rap, a la The Lonely Island, but I could not have been more wrong. I listened to some of the mixtapes and tracks he released before his first album, and they were very good.

When he released his debut album, "Camp", I was blown away. This was a full-fledged rap record. It was not jokey or goofy in any way. It was a straight up rap album, and it was good. Glover proved that he was a very good, sometimes great, rapper. I loved this first album. I was surprised, but in a very good way.

Then, a few years later, he released his second record, "Because the Internet". This was a departure from "Camp", but I found myself enjoying it just as much, just in a different way. "Because the Internet" showed Glover taking more, spacier chances. The record had longer instrumentals, which I like. Glover also talked primarily about how social media, and other things that are on the internet, are more problematic than they are good. I thought it was a very good second step. He showed his fans that he could do something different, but still be easy to digest. The guest list on "Because the Internet" was made great simply by putting Chance the Rapper on some tracks.

Glover took a long time away from music after "Because the Internet". "Community" was done, but he was acting and developing his phenomenal new show, "Atlanta". He had other things on his mind, and those other things were all great. I missed his music, but the stuff he was doing made it not as bad as I thought it would.

Pretty much right after the first season of "Atlanta" had its season finale, which I cannot say enough great things about, it is the best new show on TV, Glover announced he had a new record coming out. I was stoked. I listened to the early release of some of the songs, and I was even more intrigued. It sounded way different than anything else he had done previously. The songs were not rap songs, but more so in the funk genre. Needless to say, I purchased the album the morning it came out, and I have listened to it almost as much as I have listened to the new Tribe record.

"Awaken, My Love!" is tremendous. Like I said, it is so much different from his other stuff. The opening track has a 2-minute instrumental intro, with very little singing, and then Glover comes in and basically sings a rock song. It is wonderful. Glover, who I will refer to as Gambino for the rest of this piece, proves that he can sing, as well as rap. I love his vocals on this track. "Have Some Love" is a straight up Parliament song. George Clinton himself probably wishes he wrote this track. It is so, so good. The song is so funky and groovy, and Gambino sounds like Clinton, and the band sounds like Parliament. We get another great funk song, "Boogieman". The song has a creepy groove, and Gambino sings it with almost a Dracula-ish voice. It is tremendous. The album only gets better from there. Some other notable tracks are "Redbone", "California" and "Stand Tall". "Redbone" is probably the best song on the whole record. It is the best put together, it sonically sounds the best, the lyrics are great and poignant and Gambino is perfect on this song. It is the true standout on an album filled with great songs. "California" is a weird, groovy, funky and, at times, Gambino's first "silly" song. The lyrics talk about a lady that wants to move to California, and Gambino tells of all the ills that could come her way if she does. The beat and the instrumentation are awesome. The closing track, "Standing Tall", is a perfect ending to this new Gambino sound. The lyrics, instruments, sound, everything about this song are perfect. "Standing Tall" closes out the record excellently. 

After 6 or 7 fully listened through times, "Awaken, My Love!", reminds me of a mix between Parliament, Saul Williams and Andre 3000, from "The Love Below". This album is an incredible departure from what we, the fans, have come to expect from Childish Gambino. I truly do not know of any single performer/artist that is doing the wonderful, challenging and different things that Childish Gambino/Donald Glover is doing right now, and "Awaken, My Love!", is one of the best things he has done in a year that has seen him do some great things. This album is one of the good things to happen in 2016. I hope Childish Gambino continues to push the envelope and try new and odd things as a musician. But, with that being said, go out and buy this album right now, it is awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He feels like we lost a lot of great musicians in 2016, but we have gained some great music in the last part of the year. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty Watches "Atlanta" Series Premiere

Last night the TV show "Atlanta" premiered. I have been looking forward to this show for some time now. I'm a big, big Donald Glover fan, and when he went into social media silence, stopped making music and left the show "Community", I had no idea what he would do next. He put out a new album a little while after leaving "Community".

That album, "Because the Internet", was great, but it was also a sign that he was going to go into "hiding", if you will. The album talked about the problems with social media, and how bad this stuff can truly get. After that album was out for awhile, Glover was still on Twitter and Instagram, but he shut that down pretty quick. It was a bit frustrating because I wanted to know if he was going to make more music. I love his music. He is an excellent rapper.

I came to find out a little later, a month or two after his media silence, that he was working on a new TV show. But, that was all that was said. No one, except for those close to Glover, knew what the show was going to be. I assumed it was going to be comedy, because he is a very good comedic actor and standup. I actually kind of hoped this new show would meld his music and comedy. But, as I said, no one knew. The people involved with the show did a very good, in fact great, job of keeping the plot and stars and everything quiet about this new project.

About 2 or 3 months ago, commercials for this new show "Atlanta" started to show up on FXX while I was watching "The Simpsons". I first saw Glover, so I got very excited. I thought, like most commercials for new shows, they would let the viewing audience know what the plot was going to be. We would find out what this secret project was finally about. Well, the opposite happened, and it was on purpose. The commercials, that seemed to appear endlessly, made me want to watch the show even more, giving away nothing. The only thing I could glean from the commercials was the fact that Glover was the star, and he had a baby, a girl and a couple of friends. Oh, and the show takes place in Atlanta, obviously. The commercials were actually pretty cool. Some were shot and played in reverse. There is one commercial that has Glover walking out of a house, but it is all done in reverse. It was trippy, weird and awesome. They also had "regular" commercials, but with Glover's spin. They would show Glover's character talking, but they'd switch to a different scene, then another scene, but not to be outdone, they'd show you one more thing that was different. I could not get a grasp on what this show would be about.

A week ago, I was tempted to read a review from an entertainment magazine, but when they got into the meat of the review, and started to reveal things, I stopped reading. I decided that I wanted to see it for myself, with no spoilers. So, after I got home from my Tuesday night basketball, I showered and decided it was time to watch the premiere. There were 2 new episodes last night. I finally got a glimpse of what the show is going to be about.

In "Atlanta", Glover plays a down on his luck screw up named Earnie. He also has a cousin that goes by the name of Paper Boi, that is an up and coming rapper in the music scene in Atlanta. Glover, as I stated above, has a girl, with whom he has a baby with, but they are not a couple. He just occasionally lives with her and his child. Earnie's parents won't hang with him, his cousin is weary of him, his baby's mother does not want to give him the time of day. He is a loner, looking for something to make his life important. When his cousin has a song that is getting talked about via social media, Earnie decides that he wants to be his manager. At first, everyone thinks this is a bad idea, but Earnie won't quit. His father even tells Paper Boi, "Earnie is a hard worker, but he is going to do things on his own terms. By any means necessary". This lets Paper Boi know all he needs to know, and he is on board with letting Earnie be his manager.

There is a whole bunch of other stuff that happened in the 2 part premiere. There is a shooting incident. There is a great through line in the second episode in a holding area of a jail. There are great, short bursts of comedy throughout. Glover has done a show on his own terms, and it is wonderful. The premiere more than lived up to the hype for me. I cannot wait to watch more of "Atlanta".

This is a very new idea in an age of remakes and reboots. Glover has a totally original idea, and it is an absolute home run. And for the people out there that are mad and upset with the fact that Glover has left comedy and music for awhile, calm down. He is giving us this great, one of a kind new show and it is awesome. Go watch "Atlanta" right now. This show is going to be great for years to come, as long as Glover keeps his stamp on it. I really, really like this show.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Check out all the other shows that Ty watches. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.