Here’s a peek into the third studio album, released on Dec. 2, 2016, by American actor and musical artist Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino.

“Me and Your Mama”

The first song on the album is “Me and Your Mama”. It’s one of Glover’s most popular songs, with over six hundred million streams on Spotify alone. The song starts out with some mystical piano inviting you in. It breaks into a choir that guides you throughout the song. When Glover comes in, he delivers a powerful vocal performance telling a story about being desperately in love. It closes off with a deep ending, reminiscent of the pain Glover felt from his relationship.

“Have Some Love”

The second song on the album is a deep song about spreading love in this world of malice. It was inspired by a funk band called Funkadelic, which also inspired much of the rest of the album. “Have Some Love” is a summon to fight against adversity, and is an amazing experiment of his instrumental work.

“Boogieman”

His third song “Boogieman” brings the atmosphere of the album way down as it describes a very dehumanizing picture of the troubles of being different from societal norms. Glover references Boogie Man in many different ways, from being a monster that kids have nightmares of, to a hero who comes to save the people. The funky rhythm and the incredible instrumentation wrap up the song in a great way.

“Zombies”

“Zombies” really puts you into the R&B feel with the synth and the background instrumentation starting it out. Glover uses a lot of autotune to help his voice, and sets the cryptic scene of zombies surrounding and “eating” people up and taking them for profit. Glover speaks about the mindlessness of people who ignore the cautions of consumer culture.

“Riot”

This song starts with a jazzy guitar and a synth keyboard, along with cowbells and a lot of sounds in general. This dance reminds me of a 70’s upbeat funk song that you would play on the dance floor with a disco ball.

“Redbone”

Redbone was one of the songs that really made Glover famous, with it appearing on radios and performances on late-night shows. It starts off with an iconic riff with an instrument called a telecaster, which he uses throughout the song. This song has Glover trying to convince a woman to run away with him while he lists a bunch of reasons why she shouldn’t stay.

“California”

This song takes a complete U-turn with the album so far with a very uplifting and faster beat, like you are on the beach. A bunch of weird things are used as instruments in this song, such as the whistle from a bottle, and high “dings” and such. Glover also uses a really weird and higher pitch-sounding voice than his other songs on the album.

“Terrified”

It starts off with a deep synth and other various sounds. His song starts off very slow, allowing it to build up. The song stays in a mellow beat with the help of an electric guitar and synth in the background.

“Baby Boy”

It starts with a lone keyboard, with a nice bass guitar joining in, as Glover describes a baby with “little hands, little feet, tiny heart, tiny beat”. This song is a message to his newborn son, bringing even more meaning. His voice is very high pitched and with the help of background voices, creates more depth to his words. 

“The Night Me and Your Mama Met”

This song is a vinyl bonus track for anyone who buys the album on vinyl and starts with a guitar, chorus, and a little xylophone. Halfway through the song, there is an amazing electric guitar solo that goes back into the peaceful instrumental that was playing before. This song is an instrumental with no words but still manages to be a great song.

“Stand Tall”

His final song starts out with a wah guitar leading to the end of the album, as he tells an encouraging song about staying strong and standing tall. As each passage of the vocals ends, more instruments join in to finish the album, and his use of a choir embellishes the meaning behind his lyrics. As the song concludes, he brings in a more typical beat to focus on his strong serenading to conduct the song to end.

Angelo’s take:

“Riot”, “Baby Boy”, “Redbone”, and “Me, and your Mama” stood out to me the most, due to how catchy and how memorable they were to me. I also love how Glover uses his voice with little to no auto-tune or changes in all his songs. 

“Riot”: It was one of my favorite songs in this album, although it is the shortest. I wish that it could be a little longer like the other songs, so I could enjoy it more.

“Baby Boy”: It was about the loss of a child and for some reason it hit deep with me, the way Glover begs as someone or something takes it from him. This has to do with his son, but it’s unknown if it has to do with a kidnapping or a sickness that took him away. Overall, I love this song and I think it is a perfect song to relax to, due to its simple, few instruments and its slow bass in the background.

“Redbone” has the most memorable guitar riff and is still the catchiest to me. I love Glover’s voice in this song and I sing every time I hear it. 

 “Me, and your Mama” was definitely the most different from all the other songs, but I love it for that. The long opening is nice and peaceful, yet once the beat drops, it totally changes the mood, with a loud deep electric guitar with Glover singing about his love life with someone. While there aren’t a lot of lyrics, this song focuses on the instrumental aspect to it, which I also love.

Caden’s take:

“Baby Boy”, “Boogieman”, and “Have Some Love” were some of my favorites on the album.

“Baby Boy”: It’s been a long-standing favorite of mine; I love the guitar and bass assisting the vocals. His unusual croon is very nostalgic of a grandmother speaking. The production of the song makes it one of the best on the album. The impact the song has on the listener has made it one of my absolute must-listens.

“Boogieman”: The funky rhythm, the groove, and the vibe of the whole song entrances me. The message and the experimentation across the song really merits it as one of the best on the album.

“Stand Tall”: The wave of instruments combined with his strong vocals punches through me. Glover makes it, in my mind, one of the most powerful songs on the album.