CHILDISH GAMBINO - CAMP

Childish Gambino can rap his ass off. He can rap his mother fucking ass off.. and in Camp, he does.. NOT ONLY THAT.. but he can do it lyrically well, he throws some singing in, AND.. he does it all in a refreshing way that makes you appreciate music all over again. I haven't felt this way since hearing NERD for the first time. There's something about that type of hip hop that's so necessary to music, and not many people can do it.
Now emotional music has always been questioned, is it too emo, is it try-hard, does it come off as fake, is this guy a pansy.. well, I didn't ask any of that when I listened to Camp. I understand Drake fans put on for his sultry voice that feeds us endless stories of lost love and sad moments.. but Gambino does this in a different way, and you still hear him. His message comes off easy, and heart-felt. That same message is shown to you in a way that you understand and appreciate. Hello, have you listened to "Heartbeat"?! I could listen to that all day and even if I never committed a fault in life, still feel fucking guilty. It's fucking beautiful.
He's rude, honest, intellectually stimulating, and it feels like a cold beer on a good night. He literally takes all of his secrets and lays them on a table for you to graze through.. and graze through, you must. In "Opener" alone he lets you in on the lost relationship with a cousin. These few lines stuck deep, "and he mad cause his father ain’t around/ he lookin at me now, like ‘why you so fuckin lucky?/ I had a father too/ but he ain’t around so I'ma take it out on you’/ we used to say ‘I love you’/ now we only think that shit/ it feels weird that you’re the person I took sink baths with/ street took you over/ I want my cousin back".
If you ever questioned an actor's development into a rapper, I understand that.. but Monsieur Glover changed the game with this one. He proved himself to be a healthy contestant in the music industry.. and I hope he continues for a very long time because I refuse to stop listening to him. This shit is fucking amazing. I can't preach its worth enough.. oh, and he easily made me feel better about Drake's backpack line when he says "man, fuck a backpacker.. fuck a backpacker with a rhino's dick.". Yeah. I'm good now. He's not trying to be ghetto or hood, he's a guy that can rap good telling you exactly who he is.. and I appreciate that honesty on all sorts of levels.

MY FAVORITE LINES INCLUDE:

"hood shit and black shit is super different/ so I’m talking hood shit and coolin’ out like New Edition"

"the only thing I put before me (Mi) is 'Do, Re'"

"realest mother fucker in the game like Tron"

"“the black experience is black and serious/ because being black, my experience is no one is hearing us"

Fuck it. Almost every fucking line is a punchline.. So, sorry.. but this is the best album I've heard in awhile..... so...

4.5/5

RACKS ON RACKS. FILIPINOS. SWAG.