So, I’m old and don’t have time for a lot of rappers that have emerged in the last half decade or so. But one guy I always check for is Childish Gambino. Part of the reason I dig Donald Glover as much as I do is because I was already familiar with him via his stand-up, and of course, his role as Troy on NBC’s Community. The other part of why I check for him is because he’s fucking talented. He doesn’t recycle the same tired gangsta tropes, and his rhymes have an intelligence and wit that’s lightyears ahead of most new cats (K Dot aside.)
While his second proper album, Because The Internet, is still riding the charts, Gambino is prepping a new mixtape called STN MTN/KAUAI. He blessed the internet with a cut called “Sober” recently, and the tune finds Gambino going full-on croon to great effect.
Shit, maybe the main reason I like Gambino is because the cat is versatile. He can act, he can tell jokes, he can rhyme his ass off, and he can carry a tune a little something as well. “Sober” has elements of Blood Orange-inspired alt-R&B with an EDM style beat drop and some George Benson-esque jazz guitar on the outro. Dude is not fucking around. He might be as good as some of the Kanye-style pronouncements he’s been making lately…