For many years the world has been enamored with Donald Glover and his alter ego, Childish Gambino. Glover burst out on the scene with a Dramatic Writing degree in 2006, DJing under the moniker of mcDJ. In 2008, Glover landed a recurring role on NBC’s Community. Childish Gambino released his debut mixtape, Sick Boi the same year. There has been no visible limit to Glover’s talent or accomplishments. He has acquired a plethora of job titles and awards during a nearly twenty-year career. Whether listening to his infectious music or watching one of his cinematic ventures, you are bound to be captivated by an extravagant performance.
The latest project from Childish Gambino is entitled 3.15.20, but was released seven days later. Its name represents the date Gambino provided fans with a 24-hour sneak peek. Nowadays, artists are making a valiant effort in spoon-feeding a taste of what’s to come. All except two songs are identified by its timestamp, omitting wordy titles. CG successfully creates an “Algorhythm” to adopt Zhane’s popular chorus as his own. “Time” and “42.26” will sound familiar, as they were previously used in 2018’s film “Guava Island” with Rihanna. 21 Savage helps Childish Gambino recount a satisfactory casual rendevous with a young lady and her cat on “12.38”. Apparent nature-inspired rhythmic cadences connect the audience to “32.22” “and ”35.31”. The album is concluded with “53.49”, a provocative opus that promotes independent living.
3.15.20 is laced with futuristic distortions dubbed over steady bass lines. Gambino’s digitized falsetto invokes a listener’s utopia. Sit back and enjoy the audible roller coaster ride. Childish Gambino continues to demonstrate his ability to transcend genres and generational boundaries. This fourteen track, fifty-eight-minute compilation prolifically emanates innovation.
Rating: 8.0/10
