Album Review: Childish Gambino – Camp

Most movies about high school or college are usually filled with the same tired stereotypes. There’s the jocks, the cheerleaders, the stoners, and so on and so forth. Each one comes with their own list of individual qualities and, clichéd as they may be, each contains a tiny morsel of truth to back up the most ridiculous of characteristics. Whether it’s in his acting career or performing as his hip-hop persona Childish Gambino, Donald Glover exudes a unique personality that reminds me of one of these high school stereotypes. Donald Glover is the kid who got tired of trying to gain acceptance from his peers. Donald Glover is the kid who stopped giving a fuck what other people thought. Donald Glover is the kid who finally found himself amidst the frivolous commotion of popularity. And, most importantly, Donald Glover is Donald Glover, with little pretense and even less shame.

Throughout his music career, it’s always felt like Glover was building up to something. Something special and grand, a personal masterpiece that casually sat along the horizon just waiting for him to finally catch up. His earlier releases were catchy enough and shone through the litany of other free hip-hop releases, but at the end of the day lacked a bit of tangible quality. With last year’s EP release, it felt like Glover had finally found his niche. While it wasn’t entirely perfect, EP felt like a solid first step on Glover’s journey to find his true potential.

The words “alternative hip-hop,” to me, have always felt insulting to both sides of the coin. It’s used to pigeonhole lesser known artists because people don’t want to put real work into understanding those artists’ ambitions and, at times, it’s used to put down mainstream artists for having interests that are more in line with the majority. Definitions like conventional or alternative or indie or socially conscious have somehow become more important than the music itself. Hip-hop and rap are hip-hop and rap. What Glover puts out is neither more nor less important for the genre than what an artist like Kanye West produces. Glover is a legitimate artist with legitimate music and a unique viewpoint that only he can accurately discuss.

And that’s what Camp quickly amounts to. From the emotional family issues laid out in “Outside” to the ending soliloquy of “That Power,” each and every second is devoted to detailing Glover’s desire for success, an intense hunger that creates an impassioned background for his lyrics and production to fall back on. Glover puts every piece of himself out there for the world to see with a wary confidence that’s seen play on earlier releases. His ability to lay his cards on the table with no remorse is not surprising in the least, but still manages to leave me speechless on subsequent listens. Yes, he is as crass as ever (“She’s an overachiever ‘cause all she do is succeed”), but displays an ever-growing intellectuality even when veering past the line of good taste.

Besides the obvious introspective themes, the most telling aspect of Glover’s lyricism comes in the form of his vast pop culture knowledge. Unlike the blunt nature of his thoughts on relationships, his usage of things that naturally interest and influence is frenetic and spontaneous. With references to Invader Zim, Super Smash Brothers, and French filmmaker François Truffaut, Glover’s lyrics are some of the most varied and insightful the genre has to offer, often skewing their original meaning into something completely different with clever word play and double entendre. Add to that insightful contemplation on issues such as racial stereotypes and familial bonds, Camp may very well be the most lyrically diverse album to come out this year.

But any good hip-hop album worth its salt can only be carried so far by lyricism. Though Camp excels in that department, the backing production provided by Glover and Community composer Ludwig Göransson is far from hobbling. While the first single “Bonfire” is basically a continuation of EP’s hit “Freaks and Geeks,” the repetitive vocal samples and simplistic beats keep the pace intense. “Heartbeat” is carried by heavy electronic influences, forming a chunky, dirty, and ultimately unstable basis for Glover’s own wildly varying vocal delivery. The album’s variation in production styles is showcased beautifully by the light string sonatas paired within the tracks “All the Shine” and its follow-up “Letter Home.” Direct confrontations come in the form of “Backpackers,” a brushed-shoulder send up of Glover’s competitors in the game, and “You See Me,” a darkly tinged banger that almost certainly draws influence from Pharoahe Monch’s classic “Simon Says” with its use of menacing horn sections. A trip through Camp offers enough variables in both aspects of its grandeur to satisfy most everyone, but still manages to form a cohesive whole as it weaves together inventive influences and typical genre conventions.

Though it seems like Glover’s career in the music industry has just begun, this latest release is a wonderful culmination of years of work. Brilliant in its own right, Camp also sheds a beneficial retrospective light on his earlier projects. Influences that eventually found their rightful place on this album can be seen gestating slowly, growing into the impressive qualities that shine through each track. And sure, Camp has its faults, displayed most prominently when Glover decides to deviate from his rapid-fire, devil may care delivery. But just like its successes, these faults are a part of what makes Camp, and ultimately Glover himself, compelling figures in an already widely satiated genre.