Album Review: Childish Gambino because of the internet / R. Kelly Black Panties
because of the internet – Childish Gambino
“Don’t be mad cause I’m doing me better, than you doing you”.
It’s no secret that I’m a Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino fan. He has shown and proved that he has lyrical skills via BET’s The Cypher and his free download mix tape Royalty. So I was eagerly awaiting his latest studio release because of the internet. I must say overall, I had the same feeling after listening to Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreaks or Frank Ocean’s channel ORANGE; it’s kinda a depressing ride. The overly mellow dramatic vibe was a letdown. I wanted to hear a rap album but was stuck with a kinda Debbie Downer Drake-ish lists of tracks that made me feel like I was on a cohesive journey through an R&B album that happen to have a couple of rap verses.
Now I’m not one to dislike the newer trend in recent years of rappers singing over their tracks. I aint mad at it but damn, I just wanted a rap album or even more of an album in the vein of Royalty. On top of that, there were a couple of songs (The Party and Urn) that were dope but were only a little over a minute long…dammit I hate when artists do that.
There were four songs that stood out and will definitely get rotation in my truck and mpg, they are; Crawl, Worldstar, Sweatpants, and Life. Crawl, just comes hard. Worldstar is about the culture of buffoonery and violence that exist on WorldStar Hip Hop. In my opinion, Sweatpants proves why Childish Gambino is one of the best lyricists out today…
I got a penthouse on both coasts, pH balance
Real nigga, I rep those, why though? Cause I said so
Hip deep in the Pepto, I got five on her like Ben Folds
I got more tail than that PetCo, you faker than some Sweet’N Low
Yeah, you got some silverware, but really are you eating though?
Four to Five nice ass tracks out of 19 just doesn’t do it for me. I want to stress that I’m not saying the album isn’t creative and I must admit even though I really didn’t feel this album the production is nice but again this style of rap/hip hop is just not my thing. Regardless, I will always be a Gambino fan and now I’m eagerly waiting for the next mix tape to drop.
2.5 out of 5 stars
Black Panties – R. Kelly
Black Panties is Kel’s thirteenth solo album. This is nothing like his last two albums, Love Letter and Write Me Back. For me it’s a lot more consistent than Love Letter. 98% of this album is about PUSSY. I’m sure that Kelly has set a Guinness Book Of World Records, record for saying the word pussy more times on this album than any other album in history (really, someone needs to check this).
Make no mistake; Black Panties is pure strip club R&B sex music. Kelly does a nice job of giving you a true nasty sex filled experience. With beats and heavy bass lines, you can easily envision pole twerk’n; and why not with songs like Throw This Money On You. There isn’t much depth to the album and it doesn’t need to be…it’s simply about pussy and fucking.
There are many great tracks on Black Panties. My personal favorites are Marry The Pussy, Genius, All The Way featuring Kelly Rowland, Spend That featuring Jeezy, Crazy Sex, and Show Ya Pussy. Yeah it’s all raunchy, salacious and dirty but damn this man can sang. With lyrics like…
Pussy talk to me, pussy sing to me
So much joy it bring to me
When I call the pussy, it come right away
And I call the pussy like everyday
I love pussy and pussy love me
I can tell the way it strip for me
If I’m ever in the mood for two pussies
Then the pussy will bring another pussy to me
There isn’t another male R&B artist out there like Kelly that can get away with creating and producing songs like this. Brian McKnight tried and failed. At 46 years old and 20 plus years in the game, it’s obvious Kel’s doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. Keep doing you Kels.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Thanks for the reviews Ocky. I will be copping the Kells album ASAP.
That R. Kelly just don’t stop. He is a true innovator and game-changer. He consistently reinvents himself with each and every album which is the definition of a true legend in this game of Hip-Hop & R&B.
Is it me or is Kel, as you call him, using a whole lotta auto tune now? I prefer his early work where he actually sang. He’s getting too old to be putting out records like this. And I’m biased as I find him to be a pedophile so I don’t spend money on him anymore but to each his own.
No its not just you. He does use auto tune a lot on this album. Love Letter was mostly all him.
WoW, Gambino didn’t impress? I’m looking forward to checking out the entire album to see for myself. Kelly is no longer on my radar as his music now seems gimmicky and tasteless. Thanks for the review
@ocky You liked R Kelly’s album more than D. Glov’s? Wow. I guess that’s just a matter of personal taste. I agree with @blackpegasus Kells has entered the Twilight Zone of his career. Can’t f*ck wit it. There were about 3-4 joints on his album that I could tolerate, but I’m not convinced. Because The Internet is a dope record. It flows well and it’s a good example of how hip hop has played with the changes over the years by looking outside of the box. A lot of Childish Gambino fans don’t like it as much as his other material though. But I think it’s his best album yet. Shows a lot of growth as an artist.