Donald Glover, the comedian, actor and MC also known as Childish Gambino, currently has two full-length major label albums under his belt, 2011’s “Camp” and 2013’s “Because the Internet.”
Between albums, Glover releases free mixtapes online. These EPs— 2010’s “Culdesac” and 2012’s “Royalty”—are available on datpiff, the self-proclaimed internet authority on hip-hop mixtapes. On Oct. 2, another Gambino mixtape was made available for free fan consumption. “STN MTN/Kauai” follows the rapper through a conceptual dream sequence featuring Atlanta-based producer DJ Drama as he hosts Gambino’s very own “Gangster Grillz” mixtape, a series made popular by Drama that has previously featured artists such as Lil Wayne, Yo Gotti, and Snoop Dogg.
During the first track, “Dream/Southern Hospitality/Partna Dem” Gambino’s bassy voice cuts through a haze of background radio beats, Lil Jon sound bites, and 808 drops until both DJ Drama and the voice of Steve Smith from television show “American Dad” announce the mixtape and Bino’s presence in the song. Glover hops on the aggressive beat with proclamations denying any affiliation with Atlanta police (“snitching”) and rounds out his verses with clever nods to the bedroom (“Head was so good it’s psychology”) and references to “Uncle Remus,” a controversial figure whose stories were compiled in post-Reconstruction Atlanta. Bino also proclaims the city to be the “Black Sweden” due to its similar climate and degree of income redistribution during “tax season.”
Most of “MTN” follows this pattern of bass-heavy trap beats and radio-friendly flows juxtaposed against Childish’s own blend of creative references that, for the most part, would not be found in the lyrical repertoire of the more mainstream artists from which DJ Drama borrows the instrumentals. On third track, “No Small Talk”, originally by Kari Faux, Gambino references the 1970’s sitcom “Sanford and Son” and slightly disses prominent artist 2Chainz in the same stanza. On the next song “Money Baby” by Atlanta rapper K Camp, Gambino trades Camp’s lazy lines in the original version—“I like smokin’ weed, I like getting fly. I like having sex, I like girls who ride”—for the more comedic and memorable “I like smokin’ loud, I like being me, I might drop them bars, that AT&T.”
That isn’t to say that Gambino in no way flirting with the line between his unique brand of hip-hop and southern rap clichés. Track 11, “Go DJ”, a Lil Wayne remix, swaps out the wit of previous Gambino songs for a slew of seemingly empty boasts, but at the same time Bino’s delivery is infectious and unparalleled.
The Mixtape reaches a sweet spot starting with “U Don’t Have to Call,” which contains possibly the most precise Gambino melody to date as well as an interesting spoken word section detailing the nightlife in Atlanta. The track is produced by Ludwig Göransson, the same man responsible for most of the instrumentals on previous Childish Gambino records, and it shows.
On “Candler Road” Bino spits in Drake-esque triplets “I did it, my timing was perfect, I’m comin’ they know it. Becoming the last great American poet, the flow Lindsay Lohan.” What he accomplishes on the following track, “All Yall,” proves that Gambino is a far greater poet than Drake or the other radio-friendly influences of this mixtape, and solidifies his place as best in the game.
