Through chaotic beats, rhythmic romance, and personal concerns expressed through his lyrics, Childish Gambino returns to the music scene with an amalgamation of hard-hitting tracks.
Donald Glover, who goes by his stage name Childish Gambino, has not released a full length album since Awaken, My Love! in 2016. Some singles and EPs have been sprinkled in over the years, but now Bino is back at it with his genre-breaking style.
And his new release, 03.15.20, does not disappoint. It’s dynamic and highlights the multifaceted musician that he is. It delivers in every aspect and incorporates lots of new sounds for Gambino. And even after a few days, it’s still something that’s always hiding a little more meaning.
However, not every song on this album is brand new. The leading single Feels Like Summer was previously released in 2018 in Gambino’s “Summer Pack,” and is now titled 42.26 on the album.
Some of the tracks off the album have also been teased before, but one in particular was released only to those who attended his “This Is America Tour”— Algorythm.
“Please do not share these songs. These songs are for people attending the show only… keep this within our community,” said Glover in a message to those lucky fans.
The album has a total of twelve tracks, with each song titled by the time stamp relative to the entire album. Although each song has an actual name that is not shown on the tracklist, only two songs break the trend.
But of course, the album begins with 0.00, which serves as the intro to the captivating album and sets the feel for the rest of the tracks. The cinematic essence and vocal effects of it preps the listener for the songs yet to come.
Onto Algorythm, which would be 2.59 if it followed the trend of the other songs, this funky track uses a play on words with algorithm and rhythm to describe the beat of the song, paired with the lyrics describing just that.
With a flawless transition, we move on to Time, which also steers away from the time-stamp pattern. This song, which features pop artist Ariana Grande, similarly follows the 80’s funk that Algorythm had, except with much more of a pop feel to it. The lyrics question the world as we know it and the actions of mankind— a theme that Gambino often touches on in his songs.
This theme is brought up yet again on a later track, 47.48, which tries to bring hope to the youth while realizing the undeniable violence in the world. However, Gambino brings a bit of joy when he has his son, Legend Glover, in the outro talking about what he loves, bringing contrast between the ugly in the world and the beauty behind all the chaos.
There is also speculation on Gambino’s references to past albums as well, such as the possible connection between I. The Party from his second studio album Because the Internet and 39.28, also known as Why Go To The Party, which both describe the events of a party but from different perspectives.
Returning back to the “untitled” songs, although every title can be found on his website, 12.38 is up next, which was previously teased on Donald Glover’s livestream. This romantic and sensual song describes the dialogue between Gambino and a girl, accompanied with an R&B beat and a mix of him singing and rapping alongside 21 Savage and other collaborators.
Gambino gets even more romantic on a later track, 24.19, where he expresses just how much he loves his significant other, pointing out all the good and bad that still makes her— as he puts it— his “sweet thing.”
But going back to 19.10, Gambino returns to his ongoing theme of facing reality and our impact on what life on Earth is like— except now he focuses on the social aspect of it all. He addresses the life of the black community, highlighting the trials and tribulations of black people. However, he makes light of the situation and portrays the beauty of their culture, despite the downsides that comes with it all.
Gambino is known for his flexibility in lyrics and songs, with every album being the complete opposite of the last. In this case, he brings his versatility to the table for every single track, and a perfect example of this is the major shifts in tones between songs like 32.22, full of aggression and panic from the very start, and the country-like beat of 35.31.
And finally, in the last track, Childish Gambino brings back positivity and discusses how there is “love in every moment,” switching again between singing and rapping. He wraps it all up and ends with his familiar message of being kind to others and to care about our impact on the world.
This album, more than anything he has released in the past, presents Gambino as the undeniably talented artist that he is, who is not afraid to push the boundaries in music. Although he hasn’t released music in years, this album shows the amount of effort that he must have put into the creation of it, while having experimented with new genres and somehow being able to pull it off.
It comes off as no surprise that Childish Gambino has, yet again, made a new striking album that breaks the rules in music— and fans can’t seem to get enough of it.
