Childish Gambino @ Metropolis

I never really listened to rap growing up; I had a hard time relating to the lyrics. In the last two years, however, I have developed an appreciation for the genre, and I owe most of that to Childish Gambino. Although I shared almost none of the experiences described in the lyrics from his 2011 album Camp, I related to the tone, the nerdy Nintendo and cartoon references, and the jazzy R&B music. Most of all, it was Gambino's quick wit that hooked me.

His latest release, Because the Internet, is a statement to say the least. This 19-track album stands beside a short film entitled Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, and a separate 75-page screenplay that was designed to sync with the music. The playful tone of his debut album was replaced by a more mature, artistic, and serious sound that incorporates different musical styles including psychedelic, hard rock, dubstep, and even minimalist music. It's easy to see that his new songs, like "The Worst Guys" (featuring Chance the Rapper) for example, are departures from his older work toward his new artistic vision.  

The tour associated with Because the Internet is no less ambitious than the rest of his work. Before the show at Metropolis, concert-goers could download an app that let them tweet or draw things that would appear on a big screen on stage. It doesn't take much to guess how that went: mostly jokes about the NBC show Community (on which Gambino plays the Troy Barnes character), quotes of his lyrics, and miscellaneous obscenities. After a short DJ set, Gambino took the stage by storm.

The show opened with the whole stage covered in projections of glitchy schematics and computer graphics that finally settled into what resembled the interior of a fancy mansion. Clad in his short shorts, Gambino jumped into his set with full force and passion. He danced, ran, rapped, and sang all over the stage and maintained that intensity throughout the show. He was there to share his art, and we could feel it. The audience sang along with every track, beginning to end, which seemed to fuel the performance and put a massive grin on Gambino's face.

He played most of his new album before thanking everyone and leaving the stage. When he came back for the encore, the projections of the room suddenly changed into that of a bonfire in a forest, and so did the tone of the show. Gabino played reworked versions of songs from Camp, including "Heartbeat", complete with slap-bass and mixes of several songs together. He finished with a freestyle rap over some really interesting jazz chords that ended the concert and proved that his talent as a rapper and musician was the centrepiece of the show, and all the frills and projections were just a bonus.