Album: STN MTN/KAUAI

Multi-talented Donald Glover, a.k.a Childish Gambino, has released his brand new project Stn Mtn/Kauai in two pieces with very little promotion, hosted by DJ Drama, and Jaden Smith reciting poems written by him and Childish Gambino. Both projects are drastically different from each other, so let’s compare them before combining the two.

STN MTN

Stn Mtn takes you back to Gambino’s roots in the Stone Mountain area of Atlanta, Georgia. Making remixes of songs from other Atlanta natives, including a brilliant acapella cover of “U Don’t Have To Call” by Usher, Gambino still never fails to hit us with hilarious but clever punchlines, like “I’m all up in your bae like Oakland,” and throws punches at Drake the whole album. My favorite tracks include “Move That Dope/Nextel Chirp/ Let Your Hair Blow,” “Candler Road” and “Go DJ.”

This half of the project is more of a step to the side than a step forward for Gambino, but he does an amazing job at delivering in this portion.

Kauai

Kauai is more like the Gambino everyone knows, feeling more like a continuation of Because The Internet. With dreamy-like beats and multiple poems with Jaden Smith starring as “The Boy,” this is, in my opinion, the best half of the album. Gambino does a great job at pulling the listener in with catchy hooks, like in “Pop Thieves (Make It Feel Good).”

But, besides singing on a lot of this side of the album, he still jumps back to his hip hop ways. The production, lyrics, and poetry make this side of the album absolutely amazing. As this half of the project does cost money, all the proceeds go to keeping Kauai clean and investing in cameras for their police force.

As a complete whole, Stn Mtn/Kauai is, in my opinion, the top projects this year, making Gambino one of the biggest names in rap at the moment.