Childish Gambino - Camp

Childish Gambino, the alternate personality of the very talented and hilarious comedy actor/writer Donald Glover. You may know him as Troy on the NBC show Community, that is apparently and unfortunately in danger of being cancelled, as well as a writer for 30 Rock. TV Donald Glover is funny, quirky, laid-back, and seemingly humble. Other than the funny part Childish Gambino can be the complete opposite of Mr. Glover. Gambino tells tales of tortured times in his younger life along with a very intelligently done variation of juvenile dick and fart jokes with Lil Wayneish style and flow.

If you are a fan of or are even faintly aware of Donald Glover, the key to listening to Childish Gambino is keeping them separate or else it can be like the Seinfeld episode where the George worlds collide. What happens then? George gets very upset! That's what could happen to your perception of Troy in Community and Gambino's debut label LP Camp. You have to keep them separate!

I actually saw Donald Gambino (that was on purpose btw) when he came through Austin back in May for the "I Am Donald" tour. It was half standup and half hip hop. Both were just as impressive and hard to believe it was the same person. When walking into the venue Donald walked into the side door from his tour bus a few feet in front of us. We peered in the door to see him standing there watching a video of his that was playing inside before the show. He seemed almost nervous and self-conscious about watching himself. As talented as he is, it was as if he didn't believe it. I had heard a few songs he released himself online through various Eps/Lps. As good as those songs were he was better live than recorded, which can be rare in the hip hop world.

This dude is extremely talented and this area of his abilities should not be taken lightly. I don't listen to a ton of hip hop these days but this album is well-written, funny, sad, and creative all with a flow many in the industry could only dream of.

Check the current single "Heartbeat" below. He recently played it on Conan and tell me when it kicks in that the music doesn't remind you at least a little of "Thriller" by MJ? I feel like there should be some zombies doin' that shoulder drop move from the video...