Childish Gambino: Because The Internet Eon Review by Eon2323 Lyrics
So, it's official; Childish Gambino has dropped his highly anticipated album Because The Internet. As one of the bigger Gambino fans on this site, I know you may be thinking that this review will be totally biased but I have put my intense fandom aside and reviewed this purely from a musical and technical standpoint. Also note that this review is based on the album alone; I'll talk about the screenplay briefly at the end. Without further ado, here we go:
###01 The Library (Intro)
• Very short intro that's a bit eerie and interesting
#02 I. Crawl
• Throughout the song, you hear different types of production and sounds that are all over the place. It's actually very reminiscing of how the internet works. The hook is pretty catchy, won't lie, and I just love how it's all over the place. - 3/5
#03 II. Worldstar
• Clever concept here that I like. I'm definitely feeling what sounded to be a saxophone solo at the end of the song. It ended an interesting end to the song. So far the production is all over the place, but I'm enjoying it a ton. - 3.75/5
#04 Dial Up
• Nice interlude before "The Worst Guys"
#05 I. The Worst Guys f. Chance the Rapper
• Truthfully, the hook is a bit weird but interestingly enough, I loved it. The beat is just absolutely amazing here. It's so catchy and that breakdown at the end was icing on the cake. When I heard that he was collabing with Chance again, I was obviously thinking he'd do a verse, and while I'm a bit disappointed I didn't hear one from him, this song still goes hard. - 4.5/5
#06 II. Shadows
• A very nice song here with some soul and Gambino doing some amazing singing. He's really gotten so much better at his singing. The song as a whole was smooth and I like that more raw and louder turn in the beat a little bit before the 3:00 mark. As funny as it might sound, you can really hear him singing from the soul here. - 3.75/5
#07 III. Telegraph Ave. (“Oakland” by Lloyd)
• Ok, I loved the concept at the beginning of the song. Gambino is getting in his car and he's turning on the radio as a "Lloyd" song comes on and he's kind of singing along with it and you can hear various noise in the background. I just love that part when the hook comes in and he takes over because it's like he wants to take over the song as it is happening to him. The beat is just awesome, and again, Gambino's singing is just great. I'm vibing to this song. - 5/5
#08 IV. Sweatpants
• I like how he's taking the persona of someone who's rich and flexing throughout the song, something a rich, snooty person just might do. Moreover, this song has some funny lines and it's unbelievably catchy. When you hear that beat, gets you hyphy, that's for sure. I also find the title of the song interesting as it references the fact that rich people can wear whatever they want since they're rich. - 4/5
#09 V. 3005
• Not only is the beat just banging (do you hear that bass?) and the hook too catchy, but I really like the sentiment behind it. Everyone is scared of the future, and because of that, we're kind of reluctant to let go of the past. Although we have to move on eventually, we never have to go through it alone. That's the whole point. That despite what's out there in the future, as long as he's with someone, he's not so afraid of 3005. Also, I must concede, that hook does sound like one Drake would do, but hey I ain't complaining. - 5/5
#10 Playing Around Before the Party Starts
#11 I. The Party
• This was the beat that you could hear Ludwig playing around with in Donald's short film. It's weird, almost even a bit experimental, but I'm digging it. I like the flow he's got for his verse and at the end, I feel like by saying "get the fuck out of my house", it's almost like he's realizing that while he's got all that money and the hot spot for parties, he's not really digging it himself. - 4.5/5
#12 II. No Exit
- A very dark song that seemingly reflects sometimes Donald's dark thoughts. Very appropriate I think especially since it's coming right after "The Party". Almost sounds like he's tripping on something. It's like a manifestation of his weird thoughts and I also found it interesting how he referred to himself as a recluse - 3/5
#13 Death By Numbers
- I’m loving the beat of this interlude. Too bad it couldn’t have been longer
#14 I. Flight of the Navigator
• Real beautiful beat here without a doubt. And that intro…something about that grabbed me. I liked it a lot. And apparently, the inspiration of this song had to with a passing of a friend of his. It's like he's just done with the world and wants those closest to him to hold on close in fear of losing them too. - 4/5
#15 II. Zealots of Stockholm (Free Information)
• There's so many components to this song that I almost don't know what to think. I will say he brings up some interesting topics like same-sex marriage and religion. I also found that line he brought up about the Denny's and the 3D gun printing very interesting as well. If anything, this song made me think. I was more so invested in the idea of what's about to happen next. - 3.5/5
#16 III. Urn
• Gambino be crooning for the ladies. When that whole chorus comes in, it just sounds so beautiful over that nice instrumentation. What a nice track to hear before "Pink Toes". - 4.5/5
#17 I. Pink Toes f. Jhene Aiko
• Oh my. Now this is what I'm talking about. Gambino and Jhene's chemistry on this song is on point. Did you hear her "angelic harmonizing" during the interlude? Just gold. The beginning of the song I felt was almost reminiscent of something. Just had that vibe to it. The beat was so soothing too. But yeah, great song and Jhene was amazing here. - 5/5
#18 II. Earth: The Oldest Computer (The Last Night) f. Azealia Banks
• Definitely a more Azealia-based beat I thought, as you can hear with the drums and the beat as a whole. I actually dig it though. Since I could see Azealia rapping on a song like this, it would have been awesome for her to have a verse, but her singing on the hook actually wasn't bad. It's already stuck in my head. - 4.5/5
#19 III. Life: The Biggest Troll (Andrew Auernheimer)
• …Oh Gambino, you clever troll. On the version of the song, I was listening to, the song abruptly stopped near the end, and for a sec I got mad because I thought I had a faulty version of the song but then I heard the actual version that finished off the song and I realized that he was trolling us. Should have seen it coming. As far as production goes, I like it. I could hear a bit of synths that sounds pretty cool and there was a part in there where he so obviously was rapping about Jhene. It's interesting to see how much she actually means to him. Also in this song, he spit a line that I thought was very much indicative to the way he's taking his style of music now: "We were childish but had to grow up/ When you spittin' real shit eventually you grow up". It's interesting because by that period of the song, I noticed that he didn't really spit as many clever punchlines as he was known for in his EP/CAMP era. It shows the more mature direction he's trying to head in and he's doing it very well. - 4/5
_______________________________________________________________
Now after reading the Because the Internet screenplay, it's amazing to realize how this whole album connects together. If you haven't read the screenplay, I highly advise you do. I felt like it brought light to many of the ideas and themes that come up throughout the album itself. It also helps answering some questions I had. When you read the screenplay, it just puts everything into context and made the album that much better. Also, I've heard (and thought about) some theories floating around about how Gambino is actually living a "world" album in how he's portraying The Boy from the screenplay which makes sense. The same clothing, the interesting tweets and instagram photos, "roscoe's wetsuit", even that tweet that contained "Melrose" sent to Jhene (being Naomi in the screenplay). This just proves how much of a creative genius and mastermind Gambino is
#TOTAL SCORE: 9.5/10
And that's my review. What did you guys think of the album/screenplay? I'm thinking this is AOTY
###01 The Library (Intro)
• Very short intro that's a bit eerie and interesting
#02 I. Crawl
• Throughout the song, you hear different types of production and sounds that are all over the place. It's actually very reminiscing of how the internet works. The hook is pretty catchy, won't lie, and I just love how it's all over the place. - 3/5
#03 II. Worldstar
• Clever concept here that I like. I'm definitely feeling what sounded to be a saxophone solo at the end of the song. It ended an interesting end to the song. So far the production is all over the place, but I'm enjoying it a ton. - 3.75/5
#04 Dial Up
• Nice interlude before "The Worst Guys"
#05 I. The Worst Guys f. Chance the Rapper
• Truthfully, the hook is a bit weird but interestingly enough, I loved it. The beat is just absolutely amazing here. It's so catchy and that breakdown at the end was icing on the cake. When I heard that he was collabing with Chance again, I was obviously thinking he'd do a verse, and while I'm a bit disappointed I didn't hear one from him, this song still goes hard. - 4.5/5
#06 II. Shadows
• A very nice song here with some soul and Gambino doing some amazing singing. He's really gotten so much better at his singing. The song as a whole was smooth and I like that more raw and louder turn in the beat a little bit before the 3:00 mark. As funny as it might sound, you can really hear him singing from the soul here. - 3.75/5
#07 III. Telegraph Ave. (“Oakland” by Lloyd)
• Ok, I loved the concept at the beginning of the song. Gambino is getting in his car and he's turning on the radio as a "Lloyd" song comes on and he's kind of singing along with it and you can hear various noise in the background. I just love that part when the hook comes in and he takes over because it's like he wants to take over the song as it is happening to him. The beat is just awesome, and again, Gambino's singing is just great. I'm vibing to this song. - 5/5
#08 IV. Sweatpants
• I like how he's taking the persona of someone who's rich and flexing throughout the song, something a rich, snooty person just might do. Moreover, this song has some funny lines and it's unbelievably catchy. When you hear that beat, gets you hyphy, that's for sure. I also find the title of the song interesting as it references the fact that rich people can wear whatever they want since they're rich. - 4/5
#09 V. 3005
• Not only is the beat just banging (do you hear that bass?) and the hook too catchy, but I really like the sentiment behind it. Everyone is scared of the future, and because of that, we're kind of reluctant to let go of the past. Although we have to move on eventually, we never have to go through it alone. That's the whole point. That despite what's out there in the future, as long as he's with someone, he's not so afraid of 3005. Also, I must concede, that hook does sound like one Drake would do, but hey I ain't complaining. - 5/5
#10 Playing Around Before the Party Starts
#11 I. The Party
• This was the beat that you could hear Ludwig playing around with in Donald's short film. It's weird, almost even a bit experimental, but I'm digging it. I like the flow he's got for his verse and at the end, I feel like by saying "get the fuck out of my house", it's almost like he's realizing that while he's got all that money and the hot spot for parties, he's not really digging it himself. - 4.5/5
#12 II. No Exit
- A very dark song that seemingly reflects sometimes Donald's dark thoughts. Very appropriate I think especially since it's coming right after "The Party". Almost sounds like he's tripping on something. It's like a manifestation of his weird thoughts and I also found it interesting how he referred to himself as a recluse - 3/5
#13 Death By Numbers
- I’m loving the beat of this interlude. Too bad it couldn’t have been longer
#14 I. Flight of the Navigator
• Real beautiful beat here without a doubt. And that intro…something about that grabbed me. I liked it a lot. And apparently, the inspiration of this song had to with a passing of a friend of his. It's like he's just done with the world and wants those closest to him to hold on close in fear of losing them too. - 4/5
#15 II. Zealots of Stockholm (Free Information)
• There's so many components to this song that I almost don't know what to think. I will say he brings up some interesting topics like same-sex marriage and religion. I also found that line he brought up about the Denny's and the 3D gun printing very interesting as well. If anything, this song made me think. I was more so invested in the idea of what's about to happen next. - 3.5/5
#16 III. Urn
• Gambino be crooning for the ladies. When that whole chorus comes in, it just sounds so beautiful over that nice instrumentation. What a nice track to hear before "Pink Toes". - 4.5/5
#17 I. Pink Toes f. Jhene Aiko
• Oh my. Now this is what I'm talking about. Gambino and Jhene's chemistry on this song is on point. Did you hear her "angelic harmonizing" during the interlude? Just gold. The beginning of the song I felt was almost reminiscent of something. Just had that vibe to it. The beat was so soothing too. But yeah, great song and Jhene was amazing here. - 5/5
#18 II. Earth: The Oldest Computer (The Last Night) f. Azealia Banks
• Definitely a more Azealia-based beat I thought, as you can hear with the drums and the beat as a whole. I actually dig it though. Since I could see Azealia rapping on a song like this, it would have been awesome for her to have a verse, but her singing on the hook actually wasn't bad. It's already stuck in my head. - 4.5/5
#19 III. Life: The Biggest Troll (Andrew Auernheimer)
• …Oh Gambino, you clever troll. On the version of the song, I was listening to, the song abruptly stopped near the end, and for a sec I got mad because I thought I had a faulty version of the song but then I heard the actual version that finished off the song and I realized that he was trolling us. Should have seen it coming. As far as production goes, I like it. I could hear a bit of synths that sounds pretty cool and there was a part in there where he so obviously was rapping about Jhene. It's interesting to see how much she actually means to him. Also in this song, he spit a line that I thought was very much indicative to the way he's taking his style of music now: "We were childish but had to grow up/ When you spittin' real shit eventually you grow up". It's interesting because by that period of the song, I noticed that he didn't really spit as many clever punchlines as he was known for in his EP/CAMP era. It shows the more mature direction he's trying to head in and he's doing it very well. - 4/5
_______________________________________________________________
Now after reading the Because the Internet screenplay, it's amazing to realize how this whole album connects together. If you haven't read the screenplay, I highly advise you do. I felt like it brought light to many of the ideas and themes that come up throughout the album itself. It also helps answering some questions I had. When you read the screenplay, it just puts everything into context and made the album that much better. Also, I've heard (and thought about) some theories floating around about how Gambino is actually living a "world" album in how he's portraying The Boy from the screenplay which makes sense. The same clothing, the interesting tweets and instagram photos, "roscoe's wetsuit", even that tweet that contained "Melrose" sent to Jhene (being Naomi in the screenplay). This just proves how much of a creative genius and mastermind Gambino is
#TOTAL SCORE: 9.5/10
And that's my review. What did you guys think of the album/screenplay? I'm thinking this is AOTY