GreisNShine 9

Although I heavily respect Donald Glover as an artist, I never enjoyed his 'Childish Gambino' work prior to "Awaken My Love!". As many have Although I heavily respect Donald Glover as an artist, I never enjoyed his 'Childish Gambino' work prior to "Awaken My Love!". As many have noted, this album is nothing like its predecessors. The album is heavily referential to funk music from artists such as Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly & the Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire, Charles Wright, the Brothers Johnson, etc. This influence goes all the way down to the cover, which is an obvious reference to Funkadelic's 1972 album, Maggot Brain. The vocals are beautifully layered, and the complex instrumentals live up to many great funk instrumentals from yesteryear. The album was very refreshing to me in 2016's soundscape because Glover successfully attempted a genre that few artists have succeeded in since the early 1980s. My favorite tracks on this album were Me & Your Mama, Redbone, Terrified!, and Stand Tall. One of the most common areas of complaint about this album is the song "California". While I agree that "California" felt a bit out of place, I still loved the instrumental and can at least respect Gambino's attempt at an innovative sound, possibly based off of scat singing from 70's funk. Overall, I thought this album was an outstanding project. I applaud Glover for his ambitious return to the funk sound, great vocals, and incredible instrumentals. 9/10. … Expand