The first time I heard of Donald Glover wasn’t on Community, or even his rap persona, Childish Gambino – it was because he was on the cover of a really creepy Village Voice cover. (It makes me shudder, hence not featuring it here.) It claimed that he was a quintuple threat as an actor, musician, rapper, writer, and comedian. It paints him in a good light but the picture was such a turn-off I just ignored him. Good thing I didn’t completely tune him out – his upcoming album, Camp, comes out November 14, and he’s leaked the second single, “All The Shine.” It’s got a lot less bluster and swagger than his first release this year, “Bonfire,” which featured a host of rap clichés and made it seem like he was trying to be Lil Wayne. Thankfully his meta flow is back on “All The Shine,” which is introspective and intelligent, as befits someone as multi-talented and self-aware as Glover seems to be. (I’m not sure how this is different from the CDQ version – I’m pretty sure this one, which Glover uploaded himself, is the one that’s on the album.)
All The Shine by Childish Gambino
His SoundCloud page also uploaded a seemingly unrelated track, the “Page Turner” remix of Broken Social Scene’s “Hotel,” but since he put it up and it’s solid enough, well, why not that one too:
Hotel (Page turner Remix) – Broken Social Scene by Childish Gambino
