Childish Gambino - Camp (2011)
3/10
pop rap, west-coast hip-hop
In 1997, the music industry fundamentally unveiled a new face to hip-hop music, blending elaborate synth work, infectious percussion, and eclectic hybrids of electronic rhythms and quirky lyrics: Missy Elliot. From that moment in history, there has been an increased "artsy" movement in the hip-hop genre from such artists as Kanye West, Lil Wayne, The Weeknd, Kid Cudi, Drake and the like. Today, hip-hop artists/producers spend strenuous hours, days, even weeks perfecting and crafting the sonic beats and sound designs, which ultimately define a vital portion of their tracks. Songs no longer exclusively contain a kick, followed by a snare, followed by a kick, and so forth. The movement looks for something more; it synthesizes flavours from external music stylings and other forms of art, including a myriad of paintings and found-sound. The trick is, as the popularity grows, it must still be original and true.
Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, is better known as Troy in the popular TV comedy series, Community. However, as Childish Gambino, Glover enters a sonic tour of his psyche, replete vulgur thoughts, zingers directed at the superficial and judgmental, and even his lighthearted daily musings. However, the album, Camp, is near-pretentious, with clumsy unintelligible lyrics thrown on sensational instrumentals. Glover's voice is akin to distasteful typography on a beautifully designed concert poster.
Although Childish Gambino's beats are extremely close to Kanye West's style, they are still effective and interesting. I particularly love the arrangements in All the Shine and Backpackers. While All the Shine contains a poignant blend of punchy beats and somber strings, Backpackers brilliantly utilizes metallic-like percussion, mysterious distortion and sampling, providing a more gritty atmosphere. The lyrics, however, is another story. In rap music, lyrics are incredibly pivotal in driving the music; what you say and how you say it are important in terms of technical ability. Glover covers heavy topics like race, masculinity, relationships, street cred, and "real hip-hop" as props to construct a false outsider persona. As a result, he paints himself as a misunderstood victim of cultural preconceptions, and ignorantly contradicts himself and his relationship with "the hood". He isn't strictly a comedy rapper, but he flows like a comic actor: When he's trying to be playful, his voice obnoxiously represents a teenage squeak, and he tends to rap one punchline after another. His verses are mostly excuses for snappy pop-culture references and showboating puns, making himself seem bigger than he really is. There are plenty rappers today who are crafty and not from "the hood", yet do not show a grocery list of insecurities about it, but ignite much more emotional complexity than Childish Gambino.
Despite some nice instrumentals, Glover's exaggerated, immature, cartoony flow and overblown pop rap production are enough to make Camp one of the most unlikable rap albums of 2011. I just have to assume Glover has completely ignored the success of Kanye West, Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, EL-P, and Pharoahe Monch when he meekly moans, "Is there room in the game for a lame that rhymes/ And wears short shorts and tells jokes sometimes?" It's the perfect takeaway from Camp: preposterously self-absorbed, but not the least bit self-aware.
