Rappers who announce their retirement often end up like that one friend who declares, “I’m never drinking again” — then, weeks, maybe months later, are found on Instagram chugging an entire bottle of Casamigos. Not to say they weren’t sincere about quitting; it’s just, more often than not, they needed a break, a pause, a chance to reset, to recalibrate. Musicians are no different.
Donald Glover, since 2017, has teased the retirement of his rap alias Childish Gambino. This wasn’t the same Glover who spent the early 2010s rhyming for respect as a world-building, punchline-pushing actor-turned-rapper but a highly successful multi-hyphenate soaring on the wings of several career milestones: a hit television show (FX’s ATLANTA), a hit record (“Redbone”) and a starring role in a hit film franchise (Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story), not to mention a loyal fanbase who watched his every move and knew his every rap.
Seven years later, the accolades in film, music, and television have increased, but his commitment to retiring the alter-ego born in an NYU dorm room has remained unchanged. The signs of change have been prevalent — none greater than in Gambino’s 2020 album, Atavista, an experimental offering where conventional song structure was melted into a psychedelic free-form acid trip that felt like the work of an adventurous artist searching for a future unlike his past work.
That future, to the disappointment of many, begins with an ending. Glover intends to complete the Childish Gambino arc with the final album, Bando Stone and the New World, released on RCA Records today (July 19). Although he’s detailed the reasons why in various interviews, his desire for a definitive, conclusive moment feels proper for a man who creates memorable characters like Troy Barnes and Earn Marks but has never committed to any one creation eternally. Gambino is no different.
Childish Gambino won’t be remembered as the greatest rapper. Still, his improvement as a singer and songwriter and consistent evolutions as an artist have made him one of the most unexpected sensations in rap over the last 15 years. Knowing how much Glover enjoys twisting expectations and distorting reality, he wouldn’t raise Gambino’s jersey to the rafters without 17 more reasons why the game should put some respect on his Wu-Tang-generated name. Here is a ranking of every song on Bando Stone and the New World.
There’s no genre Childish Gambino leaves untouched. He’s exploring the crevices and corners of any music that can be heard on a Spotify playlist or a diner’s jukebox. The Fousheé-featured “Running Around” delves into a pop-rock territory with a top 40 melody and a stadium-ready band backing their sweet musing. How big will it crossover? Hard to say, but the elements to be an impactful single are apparent from the first note to the last.
Dylan Wiggins is credited on numerous tracks on Bando Stone for bass and acoustic guitar, two instruments that makes the sweet-sounding “Dadvocate” a tune that could take Childish Gambino’s voice over to airwaves his rapping never penetrated. The tune doesn’t have the bite of the more aggressive records where his intentions are to disrupt, where as “Dadvocate” embraces the many settings where his voice can feel at home.
To hear Childish Gambino collab with his son Legend is another reminder that all the college rappers who made their name during the “Blog Era” have grown up to be parents with children old enough for cameos and collaborations. “Can You Feel Me” is well-produced, but doesn’t quite captures the heart-touching sentiments of a Will Smith’s “Just the Two of Us,” where you feel fatherhood at its essence — where as here, it’s more like a playground that may be fun but isn’t the most emotionally fulfilling.
A Yeat-featuring Childish Gambino record, on paper, reads like an odd couple. The outcome of their union doesn’t have much Yeat — his brief feature comes and goes faster than Lil Durk on “Laugh Now Cry Later” — but “Cruisin” aims to center the unfolding production and the singing that soars all around the ever-evolving track. It’s not a bad song — the closing string section is a highlight — but there’s little else that makes for gripping, long-lasting music on the first listen.
“My son watching Bluey like we both crip,” isn’t the only line that doesn’t quite land on “Survivors,” but the lasting impression is found within the synthy chords and thumping kicks that does well to compliment Chloe and Childish when they’re intertwined like lost relatives reuniting on the chorus. The solo singing from Gambino rewinds back to the radio-friendly register that made his two-track 2018 Summer Pack EP a catchy, infectious collection, but “Survive” doesn’t quite reach the irresistible heights of “Summertime Magic” or “Feels Like Summer.”
Childish Gambino does not hide his reverence for SZA’s SOS The album is covered in the lasting influence of SZA’s expansive palette of popular R&B and pop records. “Real Love” is another song that weaves together a sing-song melody that has limitless potential if given the right vehicle to break ground in the same markets that made SOS a superstar-making launching pad.
Those who remember “Urn” off Because the Internet might hear in “We Are God” a sibling or long lost cousin. It’s an ethereal tune, completely in a world of it’s own, and yet, so clearly a record Childish Gambino has developed into a trademark.
The intro that starts the show. It’s a layered start, one that builds on the back of a blown out synth bass strongly resembling the dystopian sound that gave Kanye his most adventurous album. Amaraae’s spunky verse sets up whats to come after: a larger-than-life Gambino, with the posture of a Greek God, over a twitchy, robotic dance rhythm clearly out of the Yeezus playbook. It does feel a bit cluttered with an ambitious pulse, but that also brings an electric energy true to the album’s various ebbs and flows.
One of the album’s more minimal records, which leans into the dreamy, tropical island flavors that have been prevalent in Gambino’s music dating back to the Kauai mixtape. It’s a beautiful composition produced by Khruangbin that works well in the album sequence. It truly feels like the end music for when the story is settled and the credits are ready to roll. Although there’s no lead vocal track, it’s a mesmerizing listen.
The outro, much like the intro, blends rap and electronic dance music. The hook and drop both bring to mind The Weeknd and Daft Punk. Here, Glover pushes for one last dance, surging with life and a sense of abandonment. The choir that comes at the end helps to close this wild ride of a project with a touch of gospel.
Sampling British electronic band The Prodigy has already earned “Got to Be” early reverence that will likely outlast any hype that may be attached to the album. To be replayed.
The lead-off single for Gambino’s swan song still holds up months after being first teased. The emo-laded pop-rock track captures Gambino’s versatility and unabashed demeanor as cries of “nobody gives a f–k” serve as the song’s knockout punch.
“Hopping out the coupe with my t—ies out,” sets the tone for what will either be the most meme’d song on the album — or the one heavily critiqued for its silliness. Regardless, it brings back the kind of curated collabs that made Gambino’s Stn Mntn and Cul-da-Sac mixtapes a showcase for shining new talent. The back and forth by Amaarae and Flo Milli is gold, and some of the best rapping on the album. Gambino’s no slouch — his flow here is one of his most inventive — it’s just an exciting exhibition of two women whose presence just absorbs attention, and only improves the song’s replay value immensely.
The first half of “Yoshinoya” is a boastful Gambino, full of Family Guy flexes and watch-your-mouth warnings for an adversary who never gets named. His nimble flow is one of the album’s most fluid, laced with confidence and passive aggression. The abrupt beat switch brings in frantic percussion and a stuttering vocal chop, that draws out an abrasive side of Gambino. He sounds hungry still, able to draw out confrontational lyricism within the same lineage as his rap-heavy fan favorites like “yaphet kotto (freestyle)” or “You Know Me” — but “Yoshinoya” finds him elevated and irritated.
Bando Stone and the New World doesn’t sit still. It’s an album of moving pieces and shifting sounds, which gives the tracklist an exciting range of ideas and genres, but there’s also a beauty in how subdued and soft a record like “No Excuses” is. Gambino strips away wordy sentiments and channels his inner Sade. The instrumental is sublime, one of the best to ever compliment his vocals. It’s like listening to a song that would be sampled by Rick Ross during the Rather You Than Me era. It’s impressive that even when the vocals vanish, the music is compelling across the seven-minute duration, successfully creating a quiet storm unlike any he’s ever made.
“Steps Beach” is Childish Gambino stepping into a world rich in vibrant, acoustic chords and lush synths. Here his voice finds new hues rarely heard in his catalog. It’s a one-of-one moment, also graced by Steve Lacy’s Midas touch.
There isn’t a single feature where Amaarae doesn’t make her presence felt. On “In the Night,” she’s the sole rapper with Gambino, as they and Jorja fall into a streamy, swinging island-inspired tune that has all the fixings of a classic collaboration — unlocking a unique twist to the ever-evolving forms that Afro-Caribbean music can take.