Guest Blog - @BedstuyBetty Reviews Childish Gambino's Culdesac

Review by Bedstuy Betty

You may recognize Childish Gambino better at his regular 9 to 5, as Troy Barnes on the NBC
show “Community” or as his real life persona Donald Glover of Derrick Comedy fame, but this certainly isn’t his debut musically. Previous endeavors include Sick Boi, Pointdexter, as well as I Am Just A Rapper & II and Gambino has once again delved into his valise of talent and created Culdesac, an assortment of tracks cleanly captured and primed for general audiences.

It appears that this time around, Gambino is polishing his approach and improving his accessibility with tracks such as “Got This Money”, “I'm On It”, and “Do Ya Like” which also samples Brit songstress Adele’s hit, “Melt My Heart To Stone”. All three tracks contain a pop quality coupled with laidback production and smooth rhymes a la Kanye.

However, this is not to say that he doesn’t go out of the box slightly with songs like “I Be On That” and “Let Me Dope You” which faintly echo of the musical direction of I Am Just A Rapper but in a much safer manner. Gambino also proudly bares his sensitive side on the tracks “So Fly” and “These Girls” crooning away with sweet abandon. Mostly self-produced with assistance from Ludwig Garronssen, Gambino’s effort and focus on this project truly shine through.

For those unfamiliar, you may catch notes of Lil’ Wayne and Drake within his cadence but I urge you to separate Gambino based on his witty, tongue-in-cheek lyrics as well as his ability to deliver quality music on a much more dedicated scale. Overall, Culdesac provides something for everyone looking for straight-laced hip hop. Be on the lookout for Childish G. when he drops the Freaks and Geeks EP coming soon.



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