We Say Goodbye Once Again to Childish Gambino

Alright back in 2020, I wrote a review about Childish Gambino's album 3.15.20 but over the years, I ended up learning that the album felt like it wasn't finished so I ended up listening to it again while it was still on Spotify. They were right, 3.15.20 felt like it wasn't done even though there were some great songs on it, he did end up coming out with the finished album that is known as Atavista now. Just like Because the Internet, Gambino builds a world with Bando Stone with not just an album but a movie as well. As far as I'm aware, there's no release date for it but there is a trailer for it.

Now before we talk more about the album, I'll talk more about the movie for a minute. The trailer doesn't explain an awful lot but it is enough to pique my curiosity, it starts with Bando Stone (Donald Glover from Community, Atlanta, and Solo: A Star Wars Story) waking up in a post-apocalyptic world but he doesn't know how the world works plus he can't hunt, fish, or do anything involving survival but he can sing. He meets a woman and her daughter so he goes along with them as he navigates the new world. The only thing that I know about this world is that you can't go out at night but that's the most I know, the one question I have is what's out there that's so bad at night? There's obviously no rad roaches or anything like that in this world but like I said, that's all I know. Now on to the music. I'm only gonna talk about the songs that stuck out to me the most though.

The album opens with H3@RT$ W3RE M3@NT T0 F7¥ and it's a hell of an opener. I don't know music jargon very well because I can only associate sounds with music to what I would see in my mind. This song would definitely play at a house party or a club but, if neither, I can already see Gambino going crazy for this song at his concert. It even has dialogue from the movie so we're getting small clues before seeing the movie.

The next song that stuck out to me was Yoshinoya, it has two parts. It starts with something that Drake or Drasper, whoever you talk to, would've made but the second part is what hooked me in. The beat changes and Childish Gambino does what he does best, he raps and it's almost like he's doing a different approach with it as if he's going to sound like Kendrick Lamar the whole time but he still manages to do his own thing with it.

The third song that made my ears perk up was Cruisin' (feat. Yeat), I'm not very familiar with Yeat and his work. I do love how the song sounds when Gambino is singing on it, it's almost like a movie score mixed with a bit of the 80s. Of course, this is another song that I can also see a lot of dancing with but there's a bit of sadness to it as well. This song also has some dialogue from the film as well, it sounds like, at this point, Bando is becoming a bit more like a father figure to the woman's daughter as he tries to comfort her because she's scared to go out so I'm gonna assume that they're out at night during this scene.

Now, for one of my favorites on the album, this is easily one of the best songs. We Are God has no rapping, a little singing but it's mainly just instruments and your mind with this one. If you listen closely, the phrase "We are, we are, we are" is said a few times and if I'm right, I quickly put it together that this must be the finished version of the song that opened in 3.15.20 and if this is it, I have to give Childish Gambino and co. a huge round of applause because they took a song that already sounded interesting in the beginning and worked on it for a few years to come out with this masterpiece. I still couldn't believe what I was hearing when I heard this today.

Another one of my favorites that tickled my ears is Happy Survival, this is something that I could see myself as a kid listening to in the car with one of my cousins who loves reggae. This is also another song with instruments in this one, there's no singing in this one except for the occasional vocals of "Happy Survival" but other than that, I'm still wondering what the film is gonna look like and how the scene is going to play out. The song ends with more dialogue from the film, presumably, the woman's daughter saying, "We don't care about the party, we just want to dance" and Bando saying "Okay, stop right there. Unfortunately, that's a hit." The song also features Khruangbin, I'm not familiar with their work either but I can't wait to listen to their music. If Gambino got them for the album, then he needed more than just music for a project like this for his final album as Childish Gambino. I think he needed ear magic and he got it.

And for the final song on his final album, I'll just get this one out of the way, this one is easily one of the best songs in his discography and this was a huge fireworks show of an ending. A Place Where Love Goes will definitely make you want to dance with this song and the biggest hope I have for this song is that this song HAS to be the one that plays while the credits roll or when the characters finally come across some kind of hope in this world before the credits roll or even when the characters make it at the end and they just start dancing because they're so happy that they're alive or something hopeful. The song explodes with his vocals and the chords behind the beat especially near the end when the choir joins in with Gambino singing. Now, in my mind, maybe this is what true happiness sounds like when you've been so used to cynicism and being jaded and so on but you can't help but celebrate that all of your pain, sadness, etc is all gone now. It's a stretch that I'm thinking this but it's something.

I usually don't rate music because if I like it, then that's more than enough for me but for Childish Gambino, I'll make an exception. I'll admit that I didn't think his final album was going to be good, in fact, I didn't think of it at all but the moment I started listening to it, I was invested especially because I saw the trailer to the movie before I knew about the album. It took a bit for me to get into it (I listened to it while I was working) but once it finally grabbed me, it didn't let go and the last song is perfect for an ending to a great artist like Childish Gambino. I'd give this album..... 8.5/10, now hopefully, I can keep an eye out for a release date for the movie because I have to know what the movie is like now that I have the album in my repertoire.