Awaken, My Love!
| Childish Gambino
Awaken, My Love!
"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. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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The Guardian
a prog-tinged freak-funk opus.
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mxdwn Music
The production is solid, although some of these songs sounds way too familiar to the era from whence they came. It would have been nice to see the production expanded a little bit more to make it more original. The critics have not been fair to Glover’s prior musical works in the past, but this album is worth the praise.
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Get The Standard
Bino’s diverse creative energy is instantly uplifting, and I’m waiting with bated breath to see what he produces next (besides season 2 of Atlanta, of course). It’s certainly little premature to call Donald Glover the contemporary Da Vinci, but Awaken, My Love is a resounding step in the right direction.
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Paste Magazine
For this, Glover should be lauded as an envoy of music’s past, here to deliver the gospel of the funk and soul greats to the kids, instead of more millennial hip-hop malarkey. And if that falls in line with exploring his own artistic endeavors, then not only “Awaken My Love!,” but Childish Gambino and Donald Glover’s entire career, is a worthy and successful one.
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RockHaq
you'll find a fun and soulful album and another incredible achievement for one of the world's most talented men.
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Soul in Stereo
It’s easy to write off Awaken, My Love as a novelty record, but give Gambino credit for an admirable attempt at reinvention. While he’s done a solid job of imitating the greats, he hasn’t quite mastered their sound (which is probably why the light-hearted “California” veers too close to parody). But most tracks prove to be a welcome departure from current musical sounds.
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Positively Underground
Not only is “Awaken! My Love” a well-crafted sonic experience, but Gambino’s lyricism becomes slowly more and more poignant, ending with a self-aware tribute to his newborn son. Still, the goofy moments shed light on the Donald Glover that’s been on the rise for the past decade. Hopefully he continues to surprise and evolve in the coming years.
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The Odyssey
Childish Gambino is a force to be reckoned within the music community, and I continue to be baffled by the amount of people who don’t recognize his talent. Hopefully as Childish takes an even bigger step out of his usual genre, more people will realize what an amazing artist he is. “Awaken My Love!” can definitely be added to the long list of artistic achievements that he’s made in his career.
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Under the Radar
There is a whirlwind of hype around this record and it is wholly justified. Awaken, My Love is a bright, adventurous and well crafted record.
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The Bottom Line
Childish Gambino Fails to ‘Awaken’ My Love.
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Pitchfork
On Donald Glover’s latest project as Childish Gambino, he ditches rap for lovingly produced funk worship, resulting in his most enjoyable project yet.
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Sputnik Music
Perhaps the only detractor from the near-perfect Awaken… is California, with its somewhat annoying auto-tuned and forced vocals, but regardless, Childish has found his calling in soul. His incredible vocal performances throughout, in conjunction with a stellar instrumental production courtesy of Ludwig Goransson, conveys the change Donald Glover as a person has experienced since Because the Internet. With a wife, child, and brand new vision on life, both Donald Glover and Childish Gambino have gone through a change that is well worth experiencing for yourself.
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Slant Magazine
This isn’t to say that his impressions aren’t spot on, nor that he could have picked a better time to bring back the collectivist whimsy of groups like Funkadelic. But much of the album plays like a third-party rendering of a very good time, and feels destined for one-off status in the Childish Gambino catalogue. A maddening ride with an authenticity problem, Awaken, My Love! finds Glover confusing his idols for muses.
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AllMusic
It's true that the album owes a deep debt to the sounds that inspired it, but there are times when the music, voices, and words come together to make something that sounds owned by Childish Gambino alone. It's a departure, an update of the past, a statement of artistic intent from one of the true polymaths of the millennial era, but above all, "Awaken, My Love" is a stone-cold blast from beginning to end.
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DJBooth
Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!" is an unforgettable experience from beginning to end.
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Funkatopia
While most rappers need a lot of production work to sing any parts on their albums, Donald’s vocals are just fantastic. He’s in tune, has strong vibrato and the only studio magic added is simply for effect like echo and delay which is designed to add to the floaty feel of the funk. He is a great singer and talented vocalist who is comfortable in his screams, falsetto and vocal theatrics.
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Audioxide
What frustrates me further is the context around this album: with Childish Gambino affirming that the album wasn’t a lot of fun to make, it’s clear he wants to be taken more seriously, but despite all of its good moments, Awaken could never be described as a serious album. This is only demonstrated further by tracks like “California” and “Zombies”. I will be returning to it in part (“Redbone” has grown to be somewhat of an earworm, and “Me and Your Mama” continues to be an enjoyable listen) but as a whole, I don’t think it’ll hang around long.
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Exepose
“Awaken, My Love!” is funky, confident and fresh, and it’s Childish Gambino as you’ve never heard him before.
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Inquisitr
As Glover's career has grown, so has his music. While the risks taken on Awaken My Love! are not always executed perfectly, the curiosity and creativity Gambino employs on his latest project are admirable.
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The Omega
As an album, I enjoy that Donald Glover trying to make the kind of music that he wants to make, expanding his horizons from just rap. “Awaken, My Love!” is well produced, has good vocals, has some brilliant highlights. Although it does not shine consistently through the entire album, I enjoyed most of these songs and was not disappointed by Gambino’s reappearance into the music scene after two years. “Awaken, My Love!” is much different than his other albums and as a fan I hope to see new music of any kind from Donald Glover in the future.
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Drowned in Sound
The singing in itself is not the issue, it’s the fact that Gambino seems content to just deliver half-baked performances instead creating utterly alluring moments that beg to be listened to again and again. What we get is an interesting departure from his usual work, but not interesting enough to create the eternal music that he is talented enough to execute. Sure, part of the problem is that with the exceedingly above average artist we are not satisfied with anything below par, but that is the nature of the beast in the world of art.
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Hot New HipHop
Donald Glover ditches the rapping, winds up with the best (musical) work of his career.
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Daily Dot
Glover and Goransson have crafted a stirring, life-giving work that revisits ’70s funk by the truckloads, and spotlights Glover’s improved songwriting and composition.
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Brig Newspaper
More than anything, this album is an experience, and a good one at that. The main message conveyed throughout is his love for his new born child and the child’s mother through the songs mentioned above as well as “Baby Boy”. It is sensual, scary, raw and brilliant.
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Voice Magazine
An easy way to sum up this album is to tell you to take a look at the cover art. It visually encapsulates the whole thing- there’s something equally ‘other’, something spiritual, enveloping the listener. For me, this album is what I would consider the pinnacle of quality. There’s nothing more fascinating than an artist in their explorative stage, and with such a high quality of execution, there’s very little to criticise.
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The Speakeasy
Awaken, My Love! is an entire world wrapped into 11 wonderful tracks. It worships at the feet of ‘70s era music, and casts parallels between the political landscape of then and now, with Glover himself noting that ‘there’s something about that ’70s black music that felt like they were trying to start a revolution…’ It contemplates humanity in a raw, energetic and diverse way, and is wickedly observant in the way only Childish Gambino can be. The funk train that is Awaken, My Love! has arrived just in time for summer, and we are jumping on-board without a look back, bidding farewell to the debris of this year and heading straight into the revolution.
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The Advocate
Childish Gambino's latest is a funky, psychedelic romp.
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Subjective Sounds
Ultimately, the production, recording, and mastering quality of "Awaken, My Love!" encourages me to pick up the Virtual Reality Limited Vinyl edition. Most importantly, however, I truly love the music and feel it is more revolutionary than evolutionary.
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Vague Visages
At the end of AML, CG finds the peace he started out looking for, lifted to his feet by a chorus of beautiful, black voices. It matters not that the love he once begged for is nowhere to be found. She is gone. So be it. Peace, love and soul.
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The Irish Times
a deeper, wider groove.
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The VLM
Awaken My Love is a product of mood and atmosphere that is only accentuated by its funk and soul instrumentation and vocal arrangements. Whilst not every track is a stand out masterpiece, the album perfectly encapsulates the feelings of love, jealousy and fatherhood that only Gambino’s new musical direction truly could. If you had any worries about the future of Childish Gambino, it’s safe to say we certainly aren’t in the darkest timeline.
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Stack
If you’ve come to “Awaken, My Love!” expecting Because The Internet era Gambino, you will be left wanting, but not disappointed – this fresh, funky direction is a welcome one.
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The Needle Drop
Childish Gambino carves his own niche in the recent wave of vintage soul revivalism with Awaken, My Love!
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Soundblab
Childish Gambino may have stood for rap and hip-hop, but this album shows he stands for himself and his own musical journey. His singing has come on leaps and bounds, exuding charisma whether he’s cooing with a fiery passion or delivering a wise chorus line. There are few artists who can deliver such quality and change all at the same time, putting him up there as one of the most influential and out there right now.
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Dead End HipHop
Awaken, My Love! is an expansion of what Donald Glover can do with his sound. It’s a new look into the latest phase of his life given his parental status now. The album is an old school venture given new age sensibilities. Childish Gambino looks to the past and the sounds that were prevalent during the time and twists the funk and grooves into a partly audible letter to give to his newborn and a great collection of songs for the rest of us.
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Complex
Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” Is a Misfire.
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PopMatters
Ditching the rap game in favor of a heavy P-Funk vibe, Childish Gambino returns with one of his strongest overall efforts yet.
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Northern Transmissions
“Awaken, My Love!” may not be the best album of the year, but it feels like the most important—an unashamed reminder to everyone that Black Music Matters.
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Exclaim!
Despite this galling blunder, Gambino knocks Awaken out of the park. Hopefully, this side of him is here to stay.
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Vulture
Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” Is the Best P-Funk Album in Years.
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Flood Magazine
It takes a lot of hard work to make something sound effortless, and working within the confines of dependably groovy musical forms, he nails the approach. If he keeps on this path, honing and refining his historical influences, he could well create a future funk form, but “Awaken, My Love!” isn’t bogged down by “transitional record” hesitation. It’s deeply felt and focused—a welcome and brazenly funky closer to end this hellish year.
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Teen Ink
This is the best album of the year. Not only does it hit all the right notes, but I have listened to it approximately 64 times since it was released (for those reading this later, I wrote it four days after the album dropped).
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