I expected Childish Gambino’s (Donald Glover) “Awaken, My Love!” to be a continuation of the actor-turned-rapper-now-apparently-turned-R&B-crooner’s frankly cringe-inducing rap aspirations previously showcased on 2011’s Camp and 2013’s Because The Internet, both of which were decidedly underwhelming and slightly annoying.
Oh man, was it ever a relief to not hear Glover rapping on “Me and Your Mamma,” Awaken’s first track. It was such a relief, actually, that I forgot all about 2014’s Kuwai, on which Glover traded rapping for singing in just as underwhelming a fashion as he rapped on his first two records.
All this preamble to state that I was pleasantly surprised to hear Glover crooning falsetto over butter-smooth production on “Me and Your Mamma.” (This guy’s singing! And he’s good at it.) As if that wasn’t enough, at two minutes, the track abandons all pretensions of not being funk and Glover starts belting out soul that made me wonder just who it was that sat him down sometime in the past two years and made him listen to a lot of James Brown and Otis Redding.
“Have Some Love” blends the quirky theatricality Glover showed affinity for on his previous records with no-nonsense funk essentials to produce a track that’s equally tongue-in-cheek and soulful. If Glover’s newfound incorporation of soul giants wasn’t apparent enough, the track plays like a direct love letter to Sly & The Family Stone.
“Boogieman” introduces more modern aesthetics into the record’s palate, overlaying a straight funk bassline with a hook reminiscent of ‘70s television intros. Something “Riot” embraces entirely, and to great effect. Glover sounds nothing like the hipster-rap darling he seemed to so earnestly want to be early in the 2010s, and instead furthers his own artistic output with tracks like “Redbone,” one of the most solid soul tracks of 2016. (At times, however, it’s impossible to avoid comparisons to Raphael Saadiq’s 2011 Stone Rollin’, even though Glover manages to update the “retro” aesthetic that comes with making a soul or funk record today.)
If anything, the record could have been a little more concise. “California” and “Terrified,” while not bad tracks, weigh the record’s middle section down, dragging momentum from a product that’s otherwise explicitly sure of what it aims to be. That said, “Baby Boy” should convince any dubious ears of Glover’s newfound, if not mastery over, then at least enthusiasm with a genre which, all things considered, seems to be making a glorious resurgence of late.
