pay more attention to what else is out there, beyonce, beyonce sister, beyonce's husband.
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Music Childish Gambino (Donald Glover)
- Thread starter Solius
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pay more attention to what else is out there, beyonce, beyonce sister, beyonce's husband.thats unfair in my opinion. The music video was supposed to depict the culture of america and gun violence, black issues, police issues amongst a host of other things. If you think the actual song is trash then fine , but i dont think the point was for you to be playing it in your car and thinking it was some mad beats. It was to me an incredible way of showing just how our culture reacts to the wrong things and idolises the wrong things and really makes you think which is what i imagine is what he was trying to portray from the first second of the video. I think that is why online its getting the reviews it is getting. Not because it is musical genius, but the way he is trying to bring across his message.
Can't help it if they're all great and happen to be related to one another.
To be fair though, the likes of Beyonce and Kendrick have gotten similar amounts of crazy praise to Glover.
Yes.
Fela Kuti, Oshun, Trayvon Martin, Malcolm X, Warshan Shire, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, black women’s stereotypes, black women’s hair, police brutality, race vs class.
And literally dozens more topics & references are made by Beyoncé, her sister and her husband.
Is that a problem?
well you are saying people need to go out there and look out for more artistic music videos that have deep messages then you list world famous artists who are all related that everyone knows and whos videos have 10xs as many youtube views as glover.
I dunno, I really like the music in it (as I do in the ‘Saturday’ one from SNL) which doesn’t seem to be sampled (though he has a couple producers on it - notably Doomsday) and the Trap beat is appropriately visceral and grimy for the message. The only thing that lets it down are the lyrics IMO. But then his actual rapping has always been the element of the Gambino persona I’ve liked the least.
Which I suppose plays into your point somewhat.
I thought the main take away was supposed to be about how easy it was to miss what was going on in the background in America. The first couple of times I watched it, I was focusing on Glover making a fool of himself with his paunch. All the stuff out-of-focus was exactly that... outside of my focus. It was only on the third and subsequent viewings that I noticed the rest of the video.
Black America can only really aspire to 'get money' by being entertainers for the rest of the nation, whilst the underlying horrors of the black experience get lost in the haze. Black Panther, Obama and Jay-Z doesn't change that.
Black America can only really aspire to 'get money' by being entertainers for the rest of the nation, whilst the underlying horrors of the black experience get lost in the haze. Black Panther, Obama and Jay-Z doesn't change that.
Well have you seen the videos? Or caught the references I spoke about?
I’m well aware that those 3 will get tons of views from their respective fans, I was referring more about the discussion about the visuals & messages conveyed.
I actually specifically put Beyoncé at the top of my list because her artistry is usually laughed off as if she has no talent or depth, which was part of my point.
It seems like you don’t like samples? You said something about kanye’s usage earlier.
So obvious really and I didn't even notice that one.
I love samples. It’s more that I wish more people were aware of where they came from.
There can be a great deal of talent in sampling (especially if several are used to create a distinctive new peice) Though I’ll always rate someone writing a good original piece of music (as Glover and his co-writer Ludwig Goransson have done on his latest albums) over it. For obvious reasons.
If we’re going to appraise someone’s talent, I think it matters whether they actively write their music. 9 times out of 10, at least.
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No idea’s original - Nas.
Samples are what built hip hop, and they keep good music alive, imo. I love a great sampled beat especially if it’s relevant to the topic in the song.
Me too. I’ve made beats. It doesn’t devalue the worth of Hip Hop one bit. I’m just not going to say RZA is as talented as Michael Jackson, is all.
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I think the idea of Michael’s talent being unreachable is outdated personally.
Similar to Jordan in the NBA, everyone knows Bron is more talented, but the icon of Jordan & his influence and inspiration will never be surpassed, same with MJ.
Okay, substitute Jackson for Prince, or Bowie or anyone of that ilk. Point being...
And as someone’s whose both made sampled beats and plays instruments, you’re never going to convince me that sampling requires as much talent as the actual creation of music.
This isn’t a criticism of Hip Hop whatsoever. The art form is sound. Perhaps even heightened somewhat by the added context in some cases. I’m just wary of how much credit we apportion, and to whom, for certain parts of it.
(We’re well off topic now... As usual, I blame Kanye West)
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He's dope. If i had an ounce of his creativity my head would probably explode.
Artistry isn’t necessarily only about talent though.
Prince and Bowie are more talented than MJ from an objective standpoint.
But what good is it if you can write all your music and yet not as many people resonate with your words?
I’d probably agree. And I’m not saying there’s no artistry or talent in a heavily sampled tune. I’m just saying I think there’s less.
Well I’d include lyricism in a similar talent bracket tbf. Great lyricism is great poetry which is great writing. Sampling is akin to a dramatically different reading of someone else’s poem. It’s interesting, and has its own merit. But someone still had to write it first.
And in the end, the lyricism is really what defines Hip Hop to most people. And what elevates it to art.
Which in a way (bringing it back, brining it back now!) is why im surprised I don’t like Glover’s rapping more. It should be his forte.
Amongst the current crop of rappers he’s comfortably 2nd tier.
In a more talented grouping of he’s definitely third tier.
I just don’t think he’s as interested in rap because he can do so many other things so well.
The commentary is a critique to All Americans. Including Black Americans. The idea that Black America can only aspire to 'get money' is a patently untrue narrative. It's one that's believed by Black Americans at a rate that would be called racism if adopted by white people. America is decades behind most developed world countries in those terms.
Great point.
And further to it, especially on the narrative of black Americans, they have only been ‘free’ for maybe 3 generations - the first black child to attend a ‘whites only’ school is barely in her 60s iirc.
In comparison to the 100s of years of generations who were enslaved.
With that being said, who can blame them for wanting to celebrate?
Led Zeppelin were less talented than the people who wrote their songs.
Easily.
The Sun are now running a story on “what it all means!?”... The Sun!
Maybe this is going too far after all.
There was a good profile/interview in the New Yorker a couple months back fwiw. Input from the Atlanta cast, the likes of Harmon, Tina Fey, Ryan Coogler, Chris Rock etc.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/05/donald-glover-cant-save-you
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Incredible video. Atlanta is amazing too. First season was probably my fav show last year. Haven't seen the second one yet.
Perhaps this is one of the "art" videos, I don't really get. Catchy music, nice moves and that's it. Don't really get the buzz about the theme or the setting. Violence and shooting in America is not really a novel theme by any stretch.
Wiki says "is a surreal, visceral statement about gun violence in America". Surreal? You probably can't get more real than this in a legal video. I don't really see what he's trying to highlight or what the 'visceral statement' is.
Wiki says "is a surreal, visceral statement about gun violence in America". Surreal? You probably can't get more real than this in a legal video. I don't really see what he's trying to highlight or what the 'visceral statement' is.
Thanks @Silva
There’s also Death riding a pale horse at one point, which no one notices on first viewing, because Donny & the kids are dancing in front of it.
I noticed it, I am astute af ^______^
There's also a crew member (I assume) in shot for half a second in the long backward track representing the futility of it all.
I really really wish they’d let me show the music video in class as part of a lesson.
So so so many things we could get into off of it.
So so so many things we could get into off of it.
It's bewildering to me that the self-styled 'Best Nation on Earth' was;
Prohibiting Alcohol in the 20's
Openly segregating in the 50's
Still hanging people from trees in the 60's
It is a fundamentally broken country, supported by it's manufacturing power and almost complete insulation from any Global War.
Yet they control the airwaves. Every western country carries their movies, music and narratives at the top of their news/entertainment cycles so there's this ridiculous false narrative that runs through Social Media that oppression by race, gender, sexuality is still a thing that is at the forefront of most peoples experience. It's not. The noise outweighs the reality and the false-reality causes those who should be fading into obscurity, to gain a voice.
American Media is the single biggest reason that the absolutely Nirvana-esque realisation of a social melting pot that's blind to race, gender, sexual persuasion or lifestyle choices is further away than it should be.
Glover is among the most talented people on the planet though.
It's great that such a short video can have such a phenomenal impact. Guaranteed there are teenagers everywhere googling things like 'Jim Crow' as we speak. That's the power of intelligent communication right there.
Redbone and 3005 are the only songs of his that i like, Atlanta was OK, i dont see the hype with this guy. Abit overrated
Yes they are. I've been asked about a dozen times the last couple days "coach, have you seen the new Gambino video!?!"
I had about a 15 minute discussion with all my classes about it today, even though I can't show it in class.
Have you listened to 'Awaken, my love!' in entirety?
Its a bit too subtle for my liking. Like in English class where teachers ask what random things in a book mean, when it may well mean feck all but they want to force fit a beautiful poem in their heads.
Great track though.
My favourite:
I'd say it's the opposite. It's extremely layered but it's very in your face. 30 seconds in a man is executed.
There's too much for it to be coincidental or unintentional.
Since Camp, Bino seems to be intentional about what he does. A high level of artistic control.