One of my favorite quotes of the twentieth century is from author and essayist Edward Abbey. “Growth for the sake of growth” he once proclaimed, “is the mantra of the cancer cell”. It seems that in 3.15.20, singer, songwriter, rapper, artist, actor, comedian, and Renaissance man Donald Glover hits upon a similar sentiment.
Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino, has been an artist in the public’s eye for about fifteen years now. He has also been an artist I’ve loved to hate. I have never found his comedy that funny, his writing that original, or his music enjoyable at all. But yesterday, I had the pleasure and privilege of hearing his fourth studio record—3.15.20. Everything from its album art (a plain white square and nothing else) to its oddly named track list (all but 2 songs are just time stamps for the song’s beginning) intrigued me. So, I gave it a listen. Then, I listened to it again. In the last two days, I have listened to its 57 minutes seven times. There are some things in art that are perhaps indescribable to an extent. But, I will try my best
Throughout 3.15.20, a vision of the future is presented in bright, if wary, tones. The artistic leaps and bounds that Gambino takes are experimental, wondrous, and invigorating. But the most important quality about this album is not how new it sounds—it’s how old it sounds. Funk, soul, rap, R&B, disco, rock all make appearances. Many songs are best described as an old-fashioned funk song repackaged in a futuristic gloss. Glover relishes in his personal and cultural history, dancing through musical genres and styles, never stopping, but always seizing the moment. It’s incredibly beautiful to journey with Childish Gambino through these musical memories ranging from psychedelic, ambient, to pulsating. Rhythm drives most songs forward, pulling you in and out, back and forth on songs like ‘42.26’ and Algorhythm. It is hard to not sway in your seat to the groovy, mellow cuts, or bounce in place to the funky, punchy ones. There is so much effort in the production, with so many little things enveloping your sense of hearing at any given time, blanketing you in a comfy and warm set of vibrations.
All these qualities add up to an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. And it is in that nostalgic wonder that Gambino presents his message. Songs like the robotic ‘Algorhythm’ remind the listener of the coming future. It’s a future where “Everyone’s an addict” to the face paced fury moving about us. Singing from the perspective of someone who’s already given up on humanity and its flawed form, Gambino raps, “Humans don’t understand, humans gon’ sell a lie, Humans gotta survive, we know we gon’ die, Nothing can live forever, you know we gon’ try, Life, is it really worth it? The algorythm is perfect, mmh”. Is the perfection of a machine, the machines we’ve built, better than the imperfections of humanity?
With humanity comes destruction, evil, and all manners of unspeakable things. It’s easy to give up on any kind of redemption for us. Animals kill, humanity murders. With the freedom God gave us, comes the “Freedom of being wrong, freedom of being lost”. We bit the apple, Glover reminds us in very biblical terms. On the next song, ‘Time’, he reminds us of our fragile existence, saying “Maybe the sky will fall down on tomorrow, But one thing’s for certain, baby, We’re running out of time”. How can we find meaning without permanence?
Gambino wisely slows down the existential panic with the next track, ‘12.38’, a raunchy R&B song with some clever and funny lyrics (“Most these n***** wanna run around with these SZAs [scissors]” and “I be flexing like I’m eating Popeye’s spinach”). A great feature from rapper 21 Savage ties the first end of the song until the outro explodes with a futuristic chorus of distorted and manipulated vocals. This gorgeously transitions into ‘19.10’, the next song. ‘19.10’ has Glover recalling his youth, when his father told him to always remember his intrinsic beauty. Then, suddenly and sharply, the beat slows and the melody is stopped. Dark ambient sounds fill the track. ‘24.19’ starts. It’s a sad and introspective love song, reminiscing of a lover whom he never deserved. “You wanna be happy? Don’t look at my phone” asks a younger Gambino to his “sweet thing”. Suddenly, the beat switches yet again. A bass guitar echoes, chimes sound, and the vocals start fading away. Then, out of the silence comes pounding drums, and gasping vocals that pick up speed and then fall away again. Industrial noise drowns out Glover’s mumbled singing on the next track ’32.22’. The chorus’ chants and shouts with the distorted pounds of drums are not unlike traditional African music. But, as Gambino does time and time again on 3.15.20, it is not simply a revisiting of older musical ideas, but rather, a reflection and modern interpretation of them.
Next, the funky, rock influenced ’35.31’ has Donald Glover remembering harder times, selling drugs and dodging cops in his youth. It almost sounds like an old slave tune, as Gambino draws a parallel between the slavery of yore and the modern slavery a young black male might feel, trapped in a system of drugs and violence he cannot escape. The juxtaposition between the rough ‘32.22’ and the smooth and subtle ’35.31’ reminds me of Kanye’s Yeezus, in its dramatic tension-and-release style. Then comes ’39.28’, an autotune laced, piano heavy track that has Gambino questioning life. “Why go to the party at all?” repeats through the track, again and again, until the plucky keyboard of ’42.26’ materialize. Upbeat drums and nostalgic vocals tell a story of a scared Donald Glover: scared of the path the Earth is taking, scared no one can ever change.
The next track shows Glover scared of humanity and the violence they are capable of. “Little girl, thirteen, broke down, The violence, Little boys playing ’round, shot down, The violence, the violence” he sings on ’47.48’. The song concludes with a conversation Donald Glover has with his daughter. “What do you love?” he asks her. The last song on the record, ’53.49’, is a peppy song that has Gambino finally rapping as per usual. He references his dead father and his faith in an intensely personal and experimental funk song that acts as a great conclusion to the record. The last note is a slightly muffled, light drone—the same drone that began the album on ‘0:00’. A fitting finale to an unfinished question.
In 3.15.20, Donald Glover shows us a vision of two futures. One is a future where we forget our past and the violence we create destroys us. Another is a future where we remember where we came from, and learn from our mistakes. It is this caveat of a message that reminds me of the quote I put at the beginning of this review. We cannot just push forward without purpose. We can’t keep growing without real reason. It is this hurried sense of progress that causes downfall and suffering.
Gambino pushes the boundaries time and time again on his new album, really demonstrating an intensely personal side that I had not expected from him. I was continually surprised and inspired by 3.15.20, and this, mind you, comes from a doubter of Childish Gambino. The last time I enjoyed an album this much was 2019’s Igor by Tyler, the Creator. Brilliantly pulling elements from his past, but never dwelling on old ideas, Glover triumphs spectacularly on his modern take on funk and soul. I cannot wait for what’s next from him.
I give this album 9 Big Feet out of 10. Thanks for reading
art for cheap 