Childish Gambino

3.15.20

As society contends with sickness, anger, and fear, Donald Glover remedies the malignancy while fueling the anguish. 3.15.20 signals an important shift for Childish Gambino and secures the album's spot as one of the best of the year.

3.15.20 is as spell-binding, illuminating and honest as any of the great albums in recent history.

Glover is fearless and definitely not afraid to fall flat in the quest for something new or real. 3.15.20 is both of those things and is the second classic, timeless and timely Childish Gambino record in a row.

While the motivation behind the roll-out and release of ‘3.15.20’ remains up for debate, the new tracks do present a set of intriguing and well-executed contributions to Glover’s expanding discography — while continuing to steer clear of the Gambino raps of old, of course.

As engaging as these songs are on multiple levels, 3.15.20 really excels when Glover experiments with form, texture and sensory overload.

Real-world events forced a rush release that marked 03.15.20 as frustrating and divisive as anything its creator has made in the past 10 years.

Though there may be a lull at the midway point of the album, the rest is an endlessly interesting, shape-shifting beast where nothing stays still for too long. It is restless and searching like all good art and it’s the best Childish Gambino album to date.

It’s more of a vibe record, akin to Marvin Gaye’s undersung In Our Lifetime; it rises and blossoms with attentive repeat listening. Luckily, a lot of us have a lot more time on our hands right now, so one is more likely to have the chance to fully absorb it.

Glover shelves start societal commentary, but continues to offset sweetness with sour notes.

Though Gambino takes himself a bit too seriously at times, 3.15.20's pleasant moments make up for his missteps.

Like an episode of Atlanta, 3.15.20 takes us in various, episodic directions that are snapshots into the thought process of Donald Glover. He ties it all together with the unifying, timeless theme of love. It’s just a shame his vision was marred by musical risk-taking that falls flat almost as much as it soars.

Donald Glover’s got big hooks and big ideas, but his spiritual largesse is weighed down by impulses carried halfway to their endpoints and moments of frustrating pretense.