As seen in The Daily Helmsman: http://www.dailyhelmsman.com/news/view.php/852218/Childish-Gambino-reinvents-the-wheel-wit
Donald Glover; comedian, actor and MC more commonly known as Childish Gambino currently has two full- length major label albums under his belt, 2011’s “Camp” and 2013’s “Because the Internet”, but the rapper also has had a history with releasing free “mixtapes” online. These EPs, such as, “Culdesac” (released in 2010 with 100,000 downloads) and “Royalty”, (2012 with 500,000 downloads) are both available on datpiff, the self-proclaimed internet authority on hip-hop mixtapes. On the 2nd of this month another Gambino mixtape was made available for free fan consumption. “STN MTN / Kauai” follows the rapper through a conceptual dream-sequence where Atlanta-based producer DJ Drama hosts Childish’s very own “Gangster Grillz” mixtape, a series made popular by Drama which has featured artists such as Lil Wayne, Yo Gotti, and Snoop Dogg in the past.
During the first track, “Dream / Southern Hospitality / Partna Dem” Gambino’s bassy voice cuts through a haze of background radio beats, Lil Jon sound bites, and 808 drops until both DJ Drama and the voice of Steve Smith from television show “American Dad” announce the mixtape and Bino’s presence in the song. Glover hops on the aggressive beat with proclamations denying any affiliation with Atlanta police (“snitching”) and rounds out his verses with not only clever nods to his experiences in the bedroom (“Head was so good it’s psychology”) but also makes reference to 1881 folklore character “Uncle Remus,” a controversial figure whose stories were compiled in post-Reconstruction Atlanta, Georgia. Bino also proclaims the city to be the “Black Sweden” due to it’s similar climate and degree of income redistribution during “tax season.”
Most of “MTN” follows this strange juxtaposition off very current bass-heavy trap beats and radio-friendly flows with Childish’s own blend of creative references that, for the most part, would not be found in the lyrical repertoire of the more mainstream artists from which DJ Drama borrows the instrumentals. On third track, “No Small Talk”, originally by Kari Faux, Gambino both references 1970’s sitcom “Sanford and Son” and slightly disses prominent artist 2Chainz in the same stanza. On the next song “Money Baby” by Atlanta rapper K Camp Gambino trades Camp’s lazy lines in the original version “I like smokin’ weed, I like getting fly. I like having sex, I like girls who ride” for the more comedic and memorable “I like smokin’ loud. I like being me. I might drop them bars, that AT & T.”
That isn’t to say that Gambino in no way flirting with the lines between his unique brand of hip-hop and the southern rap’s cliches. Track 11, “Go DJ”, a Lil Wayne remix, seems to swap out the wit of previous Gambino songs for a slew of seemingly empty boasts, but at the same time Bino’s delivery is infectious and unparalleled.
The Mixtape reaches a sweet spot starting with “U Don’t Have to Call,” which contains the possibly the most precise Gambino melody to date as well as an interesting spoken word section detailing the nightlife in Atlanta. The track is produced by Ludwig Göransson, the same man responsible for most of the instrumentals on previous Childish Gambino records, and it shows.
On “Candler Road” Bino spits in Drake-esque triplets “I did it my timing was perfect, I’m comin’ they know it. Becoming the last great American poet, the flow Lindsay Lohan.” With what he accomplishes on the following track “All Yall” Gambino proves that, yes, he is a far greater poet than Drake or the other radio-friendly influences of this mixtape. Childish Gambino found out exactly what rhymes with “Orange.” It’s “Origin.” Boom. Best in the game. 
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