Culdesac - Childish Gambino Review

Yooo, what is good everyone? Hope everyone is keeping it 3 hunna.

Tanja chose this mixtape to be reviewed so I guess it’s dedicated to her.

Culdesac - Childish Gambino

This is the third mixtape that Gambino released and the one that kind of blew him up. Everyone knows that I love Childish Gambino. He’s my hero and my idol. I’m also close to having reviewed all his projects. So go me?

Difference

I love the piano in this song. Such a good intro for the song and such a good start for this album. This song displays Gambino’s ability to make trill lines with good metaphors and pop-culture references. The beat has this insane buildup in it, it’s crazy. 

This song is about how is unique, an individual and not like the others in the rap game. This can be seen by how he uses beats from indie songs instead of traditional beats for his songs. He has this theme that you will see in most of his songs where he says that he’s not really black and not really white. He really struggles with how different he is and how he doesn’t really fit in much.

This song is full of super sick lines.

“Drunk off the High Life, Death is when I sleep it off.

Life’s a hangover and this rapping shit’s my tylenol.”

That’s a dope play on how good his life is and the beer “Miller High Life” He’s also saying that his life is hard and full of pain but whenever he does something rap related, he feels better. 

My favorite line out of this song is also a very personal one for me. It goes:

“See me as a hero, use my little brother’s eyes.”

I like to think that I’m a role model for my siblings, maybe not the best, but regardless a role model.

Hero

This is the song that he came on stage to in Paris. So much energy in this song, it just blows you away. One of my fav Gambino songs. He’s basically just talking about how much of a badass he is in this song and how he’s different than other people. I love this song, it’s a great example of why Gambino is so good. Superior wordplay. 

I really like the line:

“She say I’m her everything, I’m better than those other guys.
I say I’m just a rapper, she tell me that’s a fucking lie.”

He’s basically saying that he is nothing special just a rapper, but she is saying that he is much more than that. This can be taken multiple ways. Firstly, he’s an actor/writer/rapper so he’s not ONLY a rapper. Secondly, she can mean that he is not just a rapper, but he is also someone, a person. She doesn’t just like him because he’s a rapper and has money. She likes him for other reasons. I think the second one is the one that he means because it is supported by the fact that she tells him that he is her everything. 

I also like the line:

“It’s Nas’ Illmatic, not Eddie Murphy's Delirious.”

He’s talking about how people don’t know if he wants to be serious or not and he’s saying he’s striving to make a classic like Illmatic and not a comedy like Delirious.

I Be On That

Another hype song by Gambino. He just straight up murders the beat with his rhymes. In the words of one of my old friends from high school: “He’s spitting that straight fire”

This song is about how he is on that next level shit in every aspect of his life.

He goes all over the place in this. From Top Gun to The Office to Lil Wayne to Vodka. Perfect flow and lyricism. 

Got This Money

This is basically the heartbeat off of this mixtape. I really like songs like this, that have like a singy quality to them and then have a super good verse in the middle of them. This song is about how he likes this girl so much and wants to spend his time, money, and basically everything with her.

So Fly

This song is like a precursor to “Be Alone” off his EP. Here he says:

“You are the bestest, I will obey you”

In “Be Alone” he says:

“You are the bestest, I will obey you,
These words I wrote for you when you were fuckin other dudes”

Ouch, sorry Gambino.

The above line basically summarizes the whole song.

You Know Me

This is such a good beat and he completely destroys it. He’s rapping about how dope he is and all that. I know that sounds boring, since most of the songs on this mixtape are about that, but he just does it so well that it’s still interesting. He has one of my favorite lines ever in this song.

“I’m walking weird because it’s Walker that I’m wasted on.”

Story of my life. That’s my favorite alcohol ever.

Let Me Dope You

This might be the hardest song on the mixtape. The beat is redic and he just raps so aggressively and energetic on it. His wordplay in this song is like always completely redic. Look at this line:

“Live inside a sauna cause I always got my self-esteem.”

He’s a monster. 

Do Ya Like

Adele sample, what up?

The first time I heard this song, I thought it was gonna suck at first, but it actually sounds dope. 

I think it’s dope when he says that he is Jay-Z with glasses and Lil Wayne but geekier. At the time that this mixtape came out he wasn’t close to Jay-Z or Lil Wayne, but they are still funny comparisons. 

His second verse has some of his funniest lines in them.

“Yes I’m drinking Whiskey, Baby I am gone tonight

NBC is not the only thing I’m coming on tonight.

Gross, why the fuck I say these things?

It isn’t over, haven’t heard the chubby Lady sing.”

It’s one of those lines where he says something borderline disgusting and then in the next line wonders why he says that. I don’t think I have to explain what he means with that line. I like how he references the fact that this song is an Adele sample on that last line. 

“I’m in love with you, but this is not tennis.

Baby stay stacked like you bad at tetris.

Rude Boy, I Rihanna your vagina,

Tell ya boy good luck tryin to find ya.”

In the first line he’s saying that he loves her, but she doesn’t love him back. Then he goes on to say that she should either stay rich or stay having curves, it’s open to your own personal opinion. “Rude Boy” is a song by Rihanna and he’s referencing the fact that Rihanna got beat up by Chris Brown and CG will do the same to your privates. 

I’m Alright

This is like an interlude on the album, but unlike normal interludes where it’s just like a beat or a skit, Gambino has one where he just straight raps and then sings a bit at the end. It’s an emotional one, which talks about where he is in life, what he looks for in a girl and how he’s scared of suicide.

Glory

The intro makes me want to like go on a mission or quest or some shit or go run or something. I could see this playing in a movie or something.

This is an emotional song about how he deals with being famous and all that. I don’t think it’s that bad of a song, but for me it’s not really that special. Like I love you Gambino and I know you have a hard time in live, but it would also be super dope to be famous and rich and all that. 

Fuck It All

This is such a depressing song. Like damn yo. He talks a lot about death in this song, both suicide and other ways. The way he sees his life is that he’s not gonna be around forever or as he says:

“I’m here for a good, not a long time.”

He doesn’t really care that much weather he lives or dies, he just wants to have a good time and do big things. He’s really ambitious in that regard. Gambino has a dark side. I mean we all do, but we don’t show it or talk about it, but he does. It’s like he talked about how the outro to Camp. He has everything out in the open for everyone to see.

I’m On It

This is a more mellow song then the last one. It’s a relaxing song where he talks about how he is on the way to becoming super rich and famous and hooking up with Rihanna. It’s a pretty good song.

Put It In My Video

This is my favorite song off of this mixtape. It’s such a happy/hype/catchy song. 

I love the beat and I love the hook of this song. It’s just a song about how many different girls he wants to get with. My favorite line in this song is:

“I wanna fuck small girls minus ’S-M’

Meaning that I fuck all girls, that is wordplay.”

That is indeed wordplay.

This song just puts me in such a good mood, I don’t know why.

These Girls feat Garfunkel and Oates

Such a mellow song about a girl and how he feels bad because she can’t be the only one for him. He talks about how the girls get the best of him. He’s breaking up with his girl for other girls. It’s kinda sorta a really sad song.

The Last

Perfect song title for the last song on the mixtape. 3 minutes of rapping goodness. Talking about his childhood and other assorted things.

“Cause everybody hate you till they love you”

Such a profound line. You have to give people a reason to love you, otherwise they will just hate you. 

The way this song ends gives me chills.

“And wherever I am, I am doing fine.

I’m here for a good not a long time.”

I really really like this mixtape. It’s the first one I ever heard by Gambino. I’ll give it a 8/10.