“Royalty” is an hour long climax , introducing itself with the power of Blake Griffin’s voice and driving full throttle until Tina Fey calls it quits. Childish Gambino raps like a superhero, battling bizarre beats with pop culture references, wordplay and tales of his own faults and finances. “Royalty” is a verification of Glover’s intellectual, metaphoric and rhythmic abilities, but most importantly a message to his contemporaries: “Camp” was not a singular movement, and he calls himself a “Black Kennedy” for a reason…he’s changing the game entirely.
Bun B., RZA, Ghostface, Kilo Kish, Steve G. Lover III, Nipsey Hussle, Schoolboy Q, Ab Soul, Danny Brown, Josh Osho, Alley Boy, Swank and the unrivaled rockstar, Beck, accompany Glover on his journey to kingship. The album begins honestly with “We Ain’t Them,” a track which not only hints at the termination of his role on the NBC hit show, “Community,” but also offers some advice: “speak from your heart, and never compromise what you feel is real.”
“Black Faces,” the fourth track on “Royalty,” features the talented Nipsey Hussle; Nipsey’s verse is a warm-up, even a simple stretch-out to the sprints of words Gambino lays on his verse: “league of my own, swag Gina Davis/only rapper making 100k on your playlist/n****s talk on Twitter but in life they don’t say s***/my Roley’s so racist, all black faces.” But Gambino’s swag and confidence doesn’t shine until the commencement of the song, when he confidently labels himself as the “metaphor Mozart…” a title well deserved.
“R.I.P.” is one of the standout tracks on the project. Bun B gives his usual trill with the relaxed, monotonous flow he deservedly received five mics from The Source for. Childish Gambino mirrors Bun’s swag with his openness, admitting how important the internet has been to his success: “drop a new stack all lames get to steppin’/drop a new track all blogs go to heaven/…/kill the web, man these n***** need their hits up.” He also points out how society hypocritically judges women and sex: “kiss her neck add a dime to the tip cup/she is not slut/f*** a dude who says so/just because she’s f*****g doesn’t mean she ain’t a lady.”
RZA, a representative from the historic Wu Tang Clan, graciously blesses the track “American Royalty” with his wisdom; the instrumentation for the veteran’s verse is accompanied by the group, “Hypnotic Brass,” marking a refreshing break from the sometimes monotonous 21st century sound of “Royalty.” However with the entrance of Gambino, the track transitions back into a smoothly sonic beat, creating a foundation for Gambino to layer his verse upon; cleverly, Glover mentions seeing his ex-girlfriend shopping in Manhattan and exclaims, “she look like she a Spellman/secretly she Hofstra/put her in the club all she wanna hear is Waka.”
“Arrangement,” featuring Gonage, is simplistic in sound but tough in nature; the song’s initial chords suggest a spacey, dissonant mood, but Gonage brings in the beat’s consistency and synth riff to prove otherwise. However, the song is a bit of a bore until Gambino admits only seconds into his own verse, “you don’t know Childish, n***a me neither.” Although he’s clearly gained some style and confidence since “Camp,” Childish is still finding himself in 2012, a thread that relates the artist’s work from the past to the present.
Another “Camp” theme which appears on “Royalty” is Glover’s constant urge to draw the line between his past comedic endeavors with his current music. “Speak the truth and everybody going to hate you/Unless it’s funny, that’s how I used to make money,” is a key bar in “Bronchitis,” a track featured near the end of the mixtape. Gambino admits that he successfully used his childhood and life story as an engine for laughter as a comedian, but urges the listeners to keep the two artistic forms separate; what he rhymes is his truth, with little content to laugh about, but all of it for you to enjoy.
Donald also managed to produce a large portion of the songs on “Royalty;” his production is characterized by syncopated drum tracks accentuated by catchy hooks, sometimes mashed up rhythmically, as he did on the chorus of “R.I.P.” Although his production is strong, “Won’t Stop” and “Make It Right” are quirky and too busy, often drowning out the lyrics of both the features and himself. The project was a pure depiction of Donald’s effort as both a lyricist and producer, but it was disappointing when he let the production drown out his lyrical content, a characteristic that’s so very important to his music.
“Camp” painted a portrait of Donald’s childhood and struggles, and was praised for it’s honesty, content and lyrics; “Royalty,” although similar in some facets, is more aimed towards his new lifestyle after the fame, concentrating on money and women. The most important difference, though, lies in what each project stands for: “Camp” was a freshman entrance into the industry, written by a modest but talented artist; “Royalty” is a self-made, powerful and potent prophecy, transforming Gambino into a true and respected hip-hop artist.
-Kevin Shea (@kevinnshea)
