Childish Gambino is definitely one of the most intriguing artists in hip hop today. A lot of this is due to his past as an actor and comedian, as he was already a well-known name before he went into rapping. I have not really been a fan of this guy so far. Even though his first two projects, Camp (2011), and Royalty (2012) were both extremely different, neither of them clicked with me. While I know he is a great rapper with interesting lyrics and a cool personality, I haven't seen him put together a cohesive, good project. Will it happen with Because the Internet?
Starting with the rapping, Gambino was on top of his game on this album. While not every song featured rapping, Gambino spit hard on some songs. He still has lyrics that are just intriguing to listen to, as he combines brutally honest, personal lines with simple, funny punchlines. Gambino also knows how to make some good topical tracks. A good example of this is the third song on this album, Worldstar. Only Childish Gambino would do a song about WorldStarHipHop, and he does it great, with humorous lines everywhere and references to the website. Another fantastic showcase of lyricism was the song No Exit, where he sounds like a real psycho who doesn't have a balanced view of reality, He is being paranoid about everything and he sounds crazy here. It is awesome to listen to, with memorable lines all over the song. From technical standpoint, Gambino is very solid. His flow changes up a lot on this album. My favorite showcase of his flow would have to be the song Sweatpants. He totally kills it here, flowing over the beat at different speeds and rhyme schemes. It really is proof of how natural rapping comes to this guy. My last, and most surprising note about Gambino would be how well he sings on this album. A lot of these tracks are poppy love songs with singing hooks, which he does very well. Songs like Shadows, 3005, Pink Toes, and Telegraph Ave all feature catchy, well done hooks. I really can't complain too much about these songs, except for that some of them sound a little too happy for my liking. Still, great job by Gambino being diverse and doing lots of different things.
To say it simply, the production on this album are stellar. For the most part, these beats are very futuristic, atmospheric, and have a lot going on. Clearly, a lot of work went into these instrumentals. The first one that really impressed me was the song The Crawl. During the hook, the beat was minimal with some simple, low piano sounds, but then, the beat suddenly drops into an explosive, dark synth pattern that sounds sick. This beat was incredible and the song as a whole was a highlight of the album. Another wild instrumental, and possibly the most wild on the album, was the song Zealots of Stockholm. This was the most experimental song on the album and it went over very well. It started with a very soft drum clap mixed with some emotional pianos, but evolves into a cluster of many differnt sinister, dark sounds meshed together. Once Gambino starts rapping, the song features an atmospheric vocal sample. This song really is an adventure of production. It goes in so many different directions that it ends up sounding awesome. Overall, the production here was fantastic. It had so many unique moments that really separated it from your average hip hop album.
This album followed a pretty interesting theme of the internet. It was a bit of a concept album, with the last two tracks really wrapping up the story in a cool way. Earth: The Oldest Computer is a very interesting song with a cool idea, some witty wordplay and lyrics, and a solid feature by Azalea Banks. This song was decent, but the real masterpiece of this album is the closer, which is titled Life: the Biggest Troll. Gambino is very introspective on this song, as he delivers some personal lyrics about his past, as well as his future, while dishing out some great punchlines in the process. He seriously impressed me on this song, as this was the best I've ever heard him on a track. If I had to think of any complaints for this album, my main one is just nitpicking, but I really wish Chance the Rapper had a verse on The Worst Guys. His contribution to that song is so minimal, I don't even know why it's there. That is such a small complaint though, as Gambino seriously surprised me and came through with this album
BECAUSE THE INTERNET WRAP UP
+Incredible performance overall by Gambino, flow, delivery, etc. were all on point
+Sticks to his usual humorous style a lot
+Tries new things, is very bold and took a lot of chances that worked
+Terrific atmospheric, dark, unique production
+Cool story and concept
-Some songs were a little too happy/poppy
Best: The Crawl, Shadows, No Exit
Worst: Flight of the Navigator
Childish Gambino- Because the Internet
8.8/10
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