Black Music Month: Childish Gambino - Camp
Album Review, Music
"I just wanna fit in, but nobody was helping me out, they talking hood shyt and I ain't know what that was about, cause hood shyt and black shyt is super different"
Donald Glover is a man of many talents. Writer, actor, comedian and rapper and it always seems like he's good at whichever one he chooses to pursue. Despite Pitchfork giving it 1.6 out of 10 Camp proved everyone wrong. Childish Gambino wasn't just another character Donald was playing. Gambino was Donald and Donald was Gambino. What we got is an album filled with personal reflections on relationships, fame, poverty, wealth, race and alienation that connected with a lot of people on a lot of levels.
Camp is an album produced entirely by Donald and continues the style of his previous production with only one sample from Streets of Rage 2 on this album. It's an album filled with hard hitting base, soul claps, pianos and synths backed by a chorus on multiple tracks. Admittedly Gambino's flow is childish and over the top but it helps display the surrealness of everything covered on this album. Some view it as a weakness and reason not to take him serious when it's the opposite. He's able to create meaningful lyrics, making him The Boondocks of rap.
The album opens with "Outside," which describes a new world if we can step outside of stereotypes. When Gambino talks about his parents in the opening verse he states "all their friends in NY deal crack, it's weird, you think that they'd be proud of them but when you leave the hood they think that you look down on them." That alienation is real and it's not a new trend. When you leave the hood to do something else with your life people turn their backs on you. They'll tell you how you've changed even if nothing has changed. Even if it's something simple like going off to college when your friends don't have that opportunity they often turn their backs on you. "The truth is we still struggle on a different plane," because we do. Simply because someone moved to a new place or a new phase in life doesn't mean they're looking down on you when it's not true. Kanye West famously stated "cause ain't no tuition for having no ambition, and ain't no loans for sittin' your ass at home, so we forced to sell crack, rap, and get a job." We're still going to struggle, it's not like we got swept away from the hood like Cinderella.
When talking to his cousin Gambino states "the world saying what you are because you’re young and black, don’t believe them." That's nothing but a fact, every time we turn on the news there's someone else telling us what black people are. Bill O'Reilly thinks we're all violent rappers. This is the same guy who was surprised nobody was fighting when he went to a soul food restaurant. This is the same man who ended an interview abruptly by yelling when asked how many black friends he had. Yet he's somehow qualified to tell us as young black people who we are. Just the other Donald Trump stated black youths have never done so poorly and we lack spirit. These are the things they say about us. We live in a generation where more black men and especially black women are graduating than ever before, but we don't have spirit. These people don't know anything about black people, yet they keep trying to tell us who we are. We shouldn't even listen to them. "Hood shyt and black shyt is super different," is another key part of the song. Somewhere along the line people became confused about what black culture is. Using proper English does not make you any less black. Selling drugs does not make you black, maybe hood, but not black. They aren't the same thing and if we step outside of the stereotypes we can be so much more.
The song "Fire Fly," goes on to address some more issues of alienation in the black community. "I used to get called oreo and fakkit," is a line that jumps out. For those of you don't know an oreo is a black kid who is white on the inside. Basically a kid who doesn't fit the hood standard so there blackness is constantly questioned. An oreo may attend a magnet school, prefer video games to basketball, trading card games instead of just hanging out on the block etc. Being an oreo is something I can guarantee every member of Blerds Online has been called at some point. Another big issues is dating black women for black nerds. "The pretty girls using skin so soft, only be likin' black dudes with their hats broke off, nikka you act too soft." It's not all about confidence there are black women who will turn away black men who don't fit stereotypes. Eventually this fades away but when you're young it's self-esteem killer. Just like Gambino in the song you start blaming yourself for not being that hood guy they're all into. Dating in general can be hard for young black nerds because you're too "white" for the black girls and too black for the white girls.
He goes on to swear "these black kids want something new, I swear it, something they wanna say but couldn't cause they embarrassed." It may not be apparent to everyone but young black people are shifting away from the stereotypes. There's still a lot of people who think you need to be hood to be black but there's a growing number of blerds, black nerds, and it can't be denied. There probably isn't a larger number, just a larger number who are coming out and admitting it. That's most likely because the internet has made it easier for us to connect. Sometimes growing up it seems like it's either just you or you and a few other black nerds. Now you can log on to twitter or facebook and find millions just like you, so you realize it's okay to be black nerd. The line "this rap stuff is magic," is something he expands on in the next track "Bonfire."
"They say they want the realness, rap about my real life," just to prove that being real doesn't mean being hood. He goes on to mention how they hate him for this but "rap's stepfather, yeah, you hate me but you will respect." Gambino may not be what people want to hear but rap needs him and has to respect him because he's good and he's shining light on a subject most won't touch, blerd life. "Shoutout to my blerds, they represent the realness," because we do. We don't have to lie to keep our street cred because the levels are so low, they can't diminish anymore. Blerds are just being blerds, and it's too late for us to pretend to be anything else when we're already branded. He continues to play with this in his letter to fame on the track "All The Shine," by opening the song with "what the fukk do y’all nikkas really want, I went with realness instead, but all the real nikkas I know either crazy or dead." This isn't Gambino saying he's not a "real nikka," in fact he's the realist nikka in the room. He's rejecting the idea of what people see as real as he later shows by asking "what’s the point of rap if you can’t be yourself, huh," and stating "I ain’t the coolest but I know I got passion, I got passion!" Being real isn't about being hood, crazy doing jail time or any of that other stuff. Being real is like being based in the sense that the meaning gets twisted when in reality both are about being yourself. Being true to who you are and being passionate about whatever you do makes you real.
Feel free to follow along with our Black Music Month Series
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
Album Review, Music
"I just wanna fit in, but nobody was helping me out, they talking hood shyt and I ain't know what that was about, cause hood shyt and black shyt is super different"
Donald Glover is a man of many talents. Writer, actor, comedian and rapper and it always seems like he's good at whichever one he chooses to pursue. Despite Pitchfork giving it 1.6 out of 10 Camp proved everyone wrong. Childish Gambino wasn't just another character Donald was playing. Gambino was Donald and Donald was Gambino. What we got is an album filled with personal reflections on relationships, fame, poverty, wealth, race and alienation that connected with a lot of people on a lot of levels.
Camp is an album produced entirely by Donald and continues the style of his previous production with only one sample from Streets of Rage 2 on this album. It's an album filled with hard hitting base, soul claps, pianos and synths backed by a chorus on multiple tracks. Admittedly Gambino's flow is childish and over the top but it helps display the surrealness of everything covered on this album. Some view it as a weakness and reason not to take him serious when it's the opposite. He's able to create meaningful lyrics, making him The Boondocks of rap.
The album opens with "Outside," which describes a new world if we can step outside of stereotypes. When Gambino talks about his parents in the opening verse he states "all their friends in NY deal crack, it's weird, you think that they'd be proud of them but when you leave the hood they think that you look down on them." That alienation is real and it's not a new trend. When you leave the hood to do something else with your life people turn their backs on you. They'll tell you how you've changed even if nothing has changed. Even if it's something simple like going off to college when your friends don't have that opportunity they often turn their backs on you. "The truth is we still struggle on a different plane," because we do. Simply because someone moved to a new place or a new phase in life doesn't mean they're looking down on you when it's not true. Kanye West famously stated "cause ain't no tuition for having no ambition, and ain't no loans for sittin' your ass at home, so we forced to sell crack, rap, and get a job." We're still going to struggle, it's not like we got swept away from the hood like Cinderella.
When talking to his cousin Gambino states "the world saying what you are because you’re young and black, don’t believe them." That's nothing but a fact, every time we turn on the news there's someone else telling us what black people are. Bill O'Reilly thinks we're all violent rappers. This is the same guy who was surprised nobody was fighting when he went to a soul food restaurant. This is the same man who ended an interview abruptly by yelling when asked how many black friends he had. Yet he's somehow qualified to tell us as young black people who we are. Just the other Donald Trump stated black youths have never done so poorly and we lack spirit. These are the things they say about us. We live in a generation where more black men and especially black women are graduating than ever before, but we don't have spirit. These people don't know anything about black people, yet they keep trying to tell us who we are. We shouldn't even listen to them. "Hood shyt and black shyt is super different," is another key part of the song. Somewhere along the line people became confused about what black culture is. Using proper English does not make you any less black. Selling drugs does not make you black, maybe hood, but not black. They aren't the same thing and if we step outside of the stereotypes we can be so much more.
The song "Fire Fly," goes on to address some more issues of alienation in the black community. "I used to get called oreo and fakkit," is a line that jumps out. For those of you don't know an oreo is a black kid who is white on the inside. Basically a kid who doesn't fit the hood standard so there blackness is constantly questioned. An oreo may attend a magnet school, prefer video games to basketball, trading card games instead of just hanging out on the block etc. Being an oreo is something I can guarantee every member of Blerds Online has been called at some point. Another big issues is dating black women for black nerds. "The pretty girls using skin so soft, only be likin' black dudes with their hats broke off, nikka you act too soft." It's not all about confidence there are black women who will turn away black men who don't fit stereotypes. Eventually this fades away but when you're young it's self-esteem killer. Just like Gambino in the song you start blaming yourself for not being that hood guy they're all into. Dating in general can be hard for young black nerds because you're too "white" for the black girls and too black for the white girls.
He goes on to swear "these black kids want something new, I swear it, something they wanna say but couldn't cause they embarrassed." It may not be apparent to everyone but young black people are shifting away from the stereotypes. There's still a lot of people who think you need to be hood to be black but there's a growing number of blerds, black nerds, and it can't be denied. There probably isn't a larger number, just a larger number who are coming out and admitting it. That's most likely because the internet has made it easier for us to connect. Sometimes growing up it seems like it's either just you or you and a few other black nerds. Now you can log on to twitter or facebook and find millions just like you, so you realize it's okay to be black nerd. The line "this rap stuff is magic," is something he expands on in the next track "Bonfire."
"They say they want the realness, rap about my real life," just to prove that being real doesn't mean being hood. He goes on to mention how they hate him for this but "rap's stepfather, yeah, you hate me but you will respect." Gambino may not be what people want to hear but rap needs him and has to respect him because he's good and he's shining light on a subject most won't touch, blerd life. "Shoutout to my blerds, they represent the realness," because we do. We don't have to lie to keep our street cred because the levels are so low, they can't diminish anymore. Blerds are just being blerds, and it's too late for us to pretend to be anything else when we're already branded. He continues to play with this in his letter to fame on the track "All The Shine," by opening the song with "what the fukk do y’all nikkas really want, I went with realness instead, but all the real nikkas I know either crazy or dead." This isn't Gambino saying he's not a "real nikka," in fact he's the realist nikka in the room. He's rejecting the idea of what people see as real as he later shows by asking "what’s the point of rap if you can’t be yourself, huh," and stating "I ain’t the coolest but I know I got passion, I got passion!" Being real isn't about being hood, crazy doing jail time or any of that other stuff. Being real is like being based in the sense that the meaning gets twisted when in reality both are about being yourself. Being true to who you are and being passionate about whatever you do makes you real.
Feel free to follow along with our Black Music Month Series
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet