Childish Gambino's "Because the Internet" Doesn't Disappoint
Connor Strange
Staff Writer
Rapper Donald Glover, AKA Childish Gambino, released his newest album, titled “Because the Internet” Dec. 6, 2013. It’s far more experimental than his last one, “Camp”, but just as good in its own right.
Leading up to the album’s release, Glover released a theatrical short titled “Clapping for the Wrong Reasons” and a screenplay as advertisement. Apparently it payed off, because ‘Bino’s second studio album debuted at seventh on the U.S. Billboard 200.
“Because the Internet” boasts a substantially long list of songs, with 19 total tracks (most of which exceed three minutes). Those songs vary in their quality and palatability, but they’re mostly fantastic.
The experimental aspect of the album comes in pretty heavily during “Crawl” and “Worldstar”, the first two songs in the album. They both have very odd beats, and less of the trademark witty one-liners of Childish Gambino than usual.
A happy medium between weird and melodic can be found in “Flight of the Navigator”, with the first one minute and thirty seconds being completely strange, and the remaining four minutes being utterly awesome.
The ninth track, “3005” is more reminiscent of his previous work. There are a lot of clever lines to think about made in quick succession, a very catchy chorus and a fantastic beat. There’s much less of a pretentious or weird theme to this one than a few of the other songs.
“Telegraph Ave.” is easily one of the best tracks in the collection; it’s incredibly catchy, and a breath of fresh air and originality from standard hip-hop fare.
He’s trying something different, which is respectable. It may not be quite the same flavor as what Gambino fans love him for, but it’s still a great listen, and highly recommended to any hip-hop fans.
