This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
"Awaken, My Love!" is the third studio album by American recording artist Donald Glover, under his stage name Childish Gambino. It was released by Glassnote Records on December 2, 2016. Consisting of tracks being sung rather than rapped, its fusion of psychedelic soul, funk and R&B influences was considered a bold departure from the predominantly hip hop style of his prior work. The album was produced by Glover and his longtime collaborator, Ludwig Göransson. "Awaken, My Love!" received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200. The album was supported by three singles, "Me and Your Mama", "Redbone" and "Terrified". It received Grammy Award nominations for Album of the Year and Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The single "Redbone" also earned nominations for Record of the Year, Best R&B Song, and won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Kinda blown away by this guy's range of talents. A dazzling postmodern hybrid that evokes a wide range of influences.
"Awaken" forces a decision: Meaning or pleasant sounds? It's a weird choice in a tradition where flimsy concept ought to be granted. The album is more of a door than a destination; It's also middle-loaded. Rating-misgivings aside, it sounds great.
Just one of the best from one of the best. Redbone felt like such a revelation when it came out, and still hits very hard. Unlike the rest of his albums, and yet totally of a chord with all of it.
The other Gambino that needs to be on the list, full stop. I am happy you added this, since I couldn't after adding Because the Internet.
My submission Rating: 10/10
Nice pick! I really enjoyed the music - very funky! I can list a lot of albums on the official list that this should replace. I hadn’t listened to Childish Gambino before. I think I had some reluctance because this is the alter-ego of an actor and even though I have nothing against Danny Glover something about that made me suspicious. Glad someone has finally forced me past that preconceived notion because I’ve been a bit funk-deficient lately.
This is an excellent start to the User Submitted Albums. I loved the retro feel of it with a more modern take. I will listen again.
I was familiar with a couple of tracks, but not the entire album. I am happy that someone added this to our list.
I'm a fan of Glover in general but sometimes feel like the music trends to style over substance, though maybe I haven't given the lyrics sufficient scrutiny. And the style is very stylish indeed.
This album infuses hip hop with 70s style funk and R&B in shades of Parliament/Funkadelic and Bootsy Collins. Donald Glover does a great job incorporating these influences though there are a couple of songs which don’t land. Overall, it’s one of his stronger albums.
All Childish Gambino has one absolute banger of a song that keeps me coming back, but I just never enjoy the entirety of his albums that much - not sure why - kinda feels like a collection of unreleased beats - Like Atavista, which I think recently became its own album. Previously all the songs were just numbers. 3.15.20 - and thats what the songs feel like 4
Not as good as his best album imo "camp" but still an incredibly mature sophisticated album which takes you on a journey. This one is more Soul focused.
Very good!
Glad to have listened. Interesting and creative.
I've never listened to any of Donald Glover's work, other than the one album that was on the original 1,001 albums list. Like that album, this also surprised me a bit, feeling more like classic R&B than what I would think of as hip hop. 3 stars.
Another childish Gambino album? ffs. It's not bad but I didn't really want to hear it. 3/5.
Donald Glover is a formidable talent, his TV shows Atlanta and Mr & Mrs Smith are simply brilliant. Also the single Redbone is arguably one of the songs of the decade. Unfortunately apart from Redbone there wasn't much on this album to excite me, hence it only gets a middling 3 stars from me.
Gave it a couple of listens, and must say that it was quite pleasing.
I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Per usual for a Gambino album, this is a lush journey with some excellent production, arrangements, and thematics. Personally prefer Internet/Camp for their harder-hitting synth stylings and tongue-in-cheek vibe, but I can't fault Glover for exploring other genres and executing them with perfection.
Well produced and styled, however it lacks coherence
Expected hip-hop and got Funkadelic "space funk-rock". Very cool.
Excellent. Funky, spacey, creative and deeply nuanced. A little soft on the back half, but I really enjoyed it. Fave Songs: Baby Boy, Me and Your Mama, Have Some Love, Stand Tall, Redbone, The Night Me and Your Mama Met
I'm more familiar with Donald Glover's work as an actor and television writer/producer/creator than I am with his music. I'm not sure I've listened to this before if I did I don't remember. I enjoyed him on Community, I think his casting as Lando was genius and Atlanta was truly one of the great TV shows of this century. Maybe that's why this feels like a little bit of a disappointment to me. It's not terrible or anything, it actually sounds amazing. I was surprised to learn that he regularly works with Ludwig Göransson who has done so much wonderful soundtrack work in recent years. He and Glover make a great team but a lot of this feels like pastiche. It's well produced r&b and funk but there's something empty about it. I know this is considered a departure musically so maybe if i were more familiar with Glover's discography, pretty much all I can recall is This Is America (and of course that's memorable because of its video) so maybe that unfamiliarity is causing me to miss something here. I don't hate this, I'd add it to a mix for a road trip or a get together but it's kind of forgettable.
There's no impressive, energizing or motivating rhythm, ...it's just conventionally boring.