Childish Gambino- 3.15.20

 For me Childhish Gambino is one of the most fascinating artists in recent years. I don’t mean it as an complement though. Don’t get me wrong, dude made some of the most memorable singles of last few years- This is America, Redbone and my personal favorite Me and Your Mama. But then he puts out California that makes me doubt his taste in music. He is clearly extremely talented but his missteps tend to be pretty fucking major missteps. On 3.15.20 we get it out of the way immediately because 0.00 boarders on unlistenable. None of the songs here come close to the highlights on Awaken My Love but Algorythm, Feels Like Summer and 12.38 are pretty enjoyable. I also don’t mind the closer even though he tries way to hard to sound like Kendrick on the verses. I really would love to enjoy Time more, there’s a pretty tune hidden under all the loud claps and synths that make the track feel way heavier than it needs to be. It sounds like a synch marching band stomping over everything, it’s a real waste because it especially doesn’t play well with Arianas delicate vocal. There’s not enough characters I can use here that would contain all the baffling production choices made on this album. And I know it’s a nitpick but if there’s some artistic reason why 3.15.20 doesn’t have a cover and some tracks have names and some don’t, it’s not really clear. It’s just another wasted opportunity, especially after how cool cover art for Awaken My Love was.

I’m kind of glad all the buzz about this album went by quickly. I’m surprised I remembered enough of it today to write about it. It had some likeable qualities but listening to it from front to back just made me tired which isn’t exacly a mood I wanna be in after listening to a record.

Rating: 5/10

 

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