How Childish Gambino Made My Life Better in Less Than 6 Minutes: A Review of “Me and Your Mama”

As if my title didn’t already give it away, I recently heard Childish Gambino’s newest single “Me and Your Mama” and have now seen the light.

When I think “Childish Gambino” I think: Donald Glover, rapper, comedian, actor, creative mastermind behind FX’s show Atlanta. I never really think of the term “game changer” because I’ve only ever been exposed to his famous album Because the Internet which introduced his singles “Sweatpants” and “3005.”

From that album alone, Gambino introduced his love for music and ability to fit into the world of rap, showing everyone being innovative is just a hobby.

Gambino released his single “Me and Your Mama” which hints to an upcoming album release on December 2,  Awaken, My Love!, and let me tell you, if this song depicts his album, I am not emotionally ready for what is to come.

The song starts with a very dreamy sequence leading into a choir’s intro followed by some beats on a synthesizer, aka a pretty standard intro for today’s take on blues. What you don’t expect is the hook: Gambino enters in the song through raw vocals resembling that of a rock band circa early ’70s and nearly gives me a heart attack.

This song sounds like a modern day’s take on a musical reprieve, which again, is not what any Gambino fan would expect from a rapper. Sure, Kanye and Chance can pull off an intermission midway through their albums, but to release it as a single previewing an album, now that’s a risky move. I have full confidence Gambino knows what he’s doing and this song won’t entirely do the album justice.

Personally, this single changed the way I looked at him. He, like any rapper, can choose the safe route and keep the mentality of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” but he proves he’s a game-changer and staying with the same sound isn’t his intention, as we see through this single.

If you take anything from this review, it’s that I cannot fully do “Me and Your Mama” justice, you’ll have to interpret this work for yourself and keep in mind that this is just the beginning of what to expect from Gambino’s upcoming work.

Listen to “Me and Your Mama”: iTunes | Spotify

Laura Popescu | KXSU DJ & Contributing Writer