CD Review: Childish Gambino - Because the Internet

As Childish Gambino, Donald Glover has the skippy flow of a stand-up and couplets that hit like a well-delivered punchline.

Childish Gambino: Because the Internet

Childish Gambino Because the Internet (Glassnote) ????
Hip-hop celebrity tends to bring with it the notion that one is suddenly a talented polymath, capable of doing anything from directing movies to designing clothing to writing novels (50 Cent's Playground confirms this not to be the case). It is trickier, though, to hop into hip-hop from another discipline, making Childish Gambino something of a freak case. The Los Angeles-born Donald Glover cut his teeth in comedy, writing for 30 Rock and starring in NBC's Community before debuting as a ­rapper with the 2008 mixtape Sick Boi. The second album Because the Internet suggests some skills are transferable, though: as Gambino, he has the skippy flow of a stand-up and couplets that hit like a well-delivered punchline. His charisma hides a gloomy temperament: "On the internet, mistakes are forever," he announces, sadly, on Life: The Biggest Troll. But musically, ­Because the Internet is a delight, full of dreamy tonal shifts, from the Daisy Age funk of Shadows to The Party, whose tense robotic snarl suggests hedonism turned sour.
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