Review Summary: A two-part project that feels like the work of two different artists - and not in a good way.
Regardless of your opinion of actor/writer/comedian/rapper/producer/singer Donald Glover, one has to admire his versatility and productivity. The man has been responsible - in one capacity or another - for more entertainment in the last five to ten years than many artists will release in several decades. After building a following as a writer for
30 Rock and a member of the sketch group Derrick Comedy, Glover’s burgeoning rap project, Childish Gambino, began to gain an increasingly dedicated fanbase around the release of his debut full-length,
Camp. By the release of his second LP,
Because the Internet, he had become one of the most polarizing figures in the modern hip hop scene, adored by hipsters who could quote
Community episodes line-by-line and fans who enjoyed his witty wordplay and puns, but sworn off by many purists who derided him as gimmicky, and criticized the increasingly serious direction of
Internet, while grudgingly praising Glover’s superb production.
Enter
STN MTN / Kauai, an experimental mixtape/EP dual release that comes a mere ten months after the release of
Internet. Billed (incorrectly) by Glover as “the first concept mixtape ever”, the two-part project takes us on a journey through the mind of Childish Gambino, as the young artist dreams of achieving his childhood aspiration of becoming an Atlanta superstar who “is on every radio station”, only to wake up inexplicably on the island of Kauai. The concept is interesting enough, but the key to the success of every conceptual work lies solely in the execution - and that is where Glover’s latest venture fails miserably. On the
STN MTN mixtape, Gambino decides that the best way to showcase his childhood dream of becoming a southern rap star is to poorly remix and recycle beats from a variety of Southern artists, such as Ludacris, K Camp, and Lil Wayne, in addition to creating middling material of his own. This concept could theoretically work, but Donald Glover has neither the credibility nor natural charisma to pull off gangsta rap, and virtually every track is plagued by a lack of authenticity and weak flow. Glover’s piss-poor imitations of underground artists feel incredibly forced at best, and corny at worst, as his lazy, pedestrian lyrics lack the subtle touch that he built his reputation on. With breathtakingly original lines like “Black as can be, rollin’ it up” (“All ‘Yall”) and “I ain’t no snitch, cops I don’t trust ‘em/I ain’t no bitch, all I do is run ‘em” (“Dream / Southern Hospitality / Partna Dem”) desperately trying to prove Gambino’s nonexistent street cred, the entire mixtape feels like your nerdy high school friend discovering Lil Wayne for the first time. It is a shame that Gambino feels the need to pretend to be someone he isn’t, and in the process lose nearly all of the charm that made him unique.
STN MTN fails spectacularly as satire, and fails even more as an entertaining listen.
After the colossal disaster of the first part of his project, how does Glover follow it up? Quite simply, with arguably the best, most consistent collection of Childish Gambino songs to date. If Gambino’s core fanbase is still listening after suffering through the monotonous
STN MTN, they will discover
Kauai, an excellent collection of island-tinged R&B that builds upon the best melodic elements of
Because the Internet. If many of the sung sections on
Internet came across as bad Frank Ocean B-sides, these come across as good Ocean B-sides, with their own unique twist. Much of the EP abandons hip hop entirely, as tracks such as “Sober” and “Pop Thieves (Make It Feel Good)” showcase Glover’s growing singing talents and ear for catchy melodies. “The Palisades” features slow crooning over island-influenced guitar strumming, and is an immediate highlight. While many Gambino fans may be irked by the lack of his signature verses on nearly all of these tracks, they have a potential for wide appeal in a way that very few of his previous songs had. While this half doesn’t entirely escape the pretentiousness of the project as a whole, and could probably do without guest artist Jaden Smith’s spoken word “poetry”, the quality of the individual songs takes precedence over the concept, rather than the other way around.
Taken as a whole,
STN MTN / Kauai is a confounding, disjointed listen. Pretentious monologues about being “genuine" and an “individual rather than a follower” plague the entire project… and yet these seem to be the only thing that unite the two parts.
STN MTN and
Kauai exhibit a comically dramatic difference in quality in nearly every aspect, and as such rarely feel like part of the same project. However, perhaps I’m not giving Glover enough credit for his artistic genius. In fact, it all makes sense now! He intentionally took the worst elements of mainstream hip hop - lazy songwriting, production, and flow - and combined it into easily his worst release to date… to provide an incredible contrast to the excellent
Kauai. Gambino lowered our expectations to the point of no return, only to immediately follow it up with some of his best material to date. Makes sense, right?
Nah, fuck it.
STN MTN is probably just a steaming pile from a man whose ego has inflated to superstar proportions. Skip it entirely and enjoy the excellent
Kauai for what it is, a catchy island-themed modern R&B release. While the overall project’s disjointed quality means that neither part is likely to fully please rap fans completely, at least the second half manages to save it from being absolute rubbish. One can only hope that Glover expands on the best elements of the project on his next full-length, and leaves the faux “gangsta” posturing in the garbage bin where it belongs.
STN MTN: 1.5/5
Kauai: 4/5
Overall: 2.5/5
