It’s So Hard To Find

Childish Gambino “Have Some Love”

Somewhere along the way I missed the part where Donald Glover set aside rap in favor of psychedelic funk in the vein of Sly and the Family Stone and Parliament/Funkadelic, so hearing the songs on Awaken, My Love! was a genuinely surprising experience for me. Glover went all in on this transformation; there’s almost no overlap in aesthetics between this album and anything else he’s done as Childish Gambino. As it turns out, the hard funk vibe suits him, and allows him to express ideas about love and life that may have seemed trite in hip-hop, but feel vital and profound in this genre. (“Have a word for your brother / have some time for one another / really love one another,” in the case of this song.) Given that Glover is best known as an actor, it shouldn’t be surprising that he has the talent to be a genre chameleon. This shift sets a precedent for him to move in any direction he wants in the future, and if he commits himself as fully to whatever that may be, it’ll probably end up being as convincing and strong as the best cuts on Awaken.

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