Ayyyy, what’s good? Hopefully everyone is straight mafia today.
This review is of another Gambino mixtape.
Royalty - Childish Gambino
A lot of people consider this to be the worst of Gambino’s mixtapes, but I don’t really think so. He was growing as an artist and decided to be more hood on some of the songs and I think that, that’s dope of him to try.
We Ain’t Them
I really like this song. The beat is really good and has a lot of interesting and then Gambino comes in with a good energy. This song basically goes all over the place from how people in Atlanta only listen to Waka Flocka, Young Jeezy and Future to how he hung out with the Roots to Whitney Houston dying and much more.
There are a couple lines that really stick out to me, the first one being:
“ …’Do your thing, boy, don’t stop’”
In the song he says that his dad says that to him, but it can go for anyone. Just do you and don’t stop. In the song this is what his dad says to him when gambino leaves the show 30 Rock to pursue his rap career.
The other lines are:
“Speak from your heart and never compromise what you feel is real
and never let these white people tell you how to feel.
Never let anybody tell you how to feel.”
This is the most important line of the song to me. I feel like I shouldn’t need to explain what it means. It’s pretty obvious.
The Asher Roth line in this song is also clever as hell.
I also like the lines:
“ DG Lover ain’t nothing to fuck wit’
D-Money ain’t nothing to fuck wit’ “
Shoutout to Wu-Tang Clan. D-Money is his hood nickname and DG Lover is a play on his real name Donald Glover.
One Up feat Steve G. Lover
This song is super hood for Gambino standards. It’s one of the reasons people disliked this mixtape. The bass on this song is filthy. The beat is hella good too. This is one of my favorite songs off of this mixtape. Steve G goes in on this song. If you don’t know who Steve G is, it’s Gambino’s brother. Yea, they both are rappers. Trill ass family.
This song just sounds really good.
Black Faces feat Nipsey Hussle
I don’t really like Nipsey Hussle that much, mostly because he released his mixtape and you had to pay $100 for it and he plans on doing so with his next album too. I don’t care who you are, you’re mixtape or album is not worth $100. But he does go in on this song.
Gambino also goes in on this song. It’s a really hype song.
Unnecessary feat Schoolboy Q & Ab-Soul
This song is so hype. The beat is so good and it has the homie Schoolboy Q on it. They both go in, but the really star of this song is Ab-Soul. The beat changes and he just goes HAM.
My favorite line out of this song has to be:
“ Hundred, Million, Trillion Muthafuckin’ Racks, N*gga”
It sounds so dope because he pauses after every word.
Shoulda Known
This is a super emotional song from Gambino, where he talks about his failed relationship, his family life and how he perceived. He also has a ton of references to Kanye in his second verse.
I really like the line:
“ I’m in my zone though, fucking round with that 4-0”
Gambino reppin’ that OE.
I really like this song, it sounds super smooth and is interesting.
R.I.P. feat Bun B
This song samples that song from the movie Drive and I love it. Great movie and great song. I have so much to say this to this song. It’s so dope.
Just the way that Bun B starts his verse is sick.
“ Late ass nights come from long days.
Doing all the right things in the wrong ways,
Doing all the wrong shit for the right reasons.”
Basically he’s saying that you either are doing legal work, badly, which makes you have to spend more time doing them or you are doing illegal work, which makes you have to start later in the day. The way I see it doesn’t just fit in regards to getting work done. I think all of us have for example broken up with someone in a horrible way, although it was the right thing to do and then stayed up at night thinking about it. I don’t know why I used to that as an example, I haven’t even been listening to any Drake, but you get what I mean. There’s also tons of other things that you can use as an example for that.
Another dope line by Bun B is:
“ I use harsh words because these are hard times,
And trill-ass people, nowadays such a hard find. “
Ok, Trill is my currently my favorite word and now I have to explain that it means real quick. I use it as a word such as “Gucci, dope, dank. etc” but it actually is a combination of the words “true” and “real.” Now you know. We can all relate to the first line because when we are under stress we often use harsher words and profanity. He’s right about the trill-ass people being hard to find too.
Photo by Me.
After Bun B is done destroying this beat, Gambino comes on and just pulls out a shocker. He goes in even harder than Bun B does. He even comes with a big truth on this song with the lines:
“ She is not a ‘slut,’ fuck a dude, who says so,
Just because she’s fuckin’ doesn’t mean she ain’t a lady “
I’ve been saying this since high school when people were giving girls shit for fornicating. Like who cares, they are still respectable and still should be treated like ladies. I’m not trying to be cheesy or some shit, just telling the truth. As one of my homies said yesterday: “#RNS”
I also like how Gambino ends his verse with “ Woah, “ he basically surprised himself with how hard he went in this song.
American Royalty feat RZA & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nothin’ to fuck with as you can clearly see in this song. RZA goes in on this as does Gambino. I think it’s really impressive that Gambino can keep up with rappers, who are OGs like RZA and Bun B.
I love how RZA ends his verse with:
“You know how the Wu go.”
If you don’t know how the Wu go, you should most def listen to some Wu-Tang and make sure to catch the next song off of this mixtape, since Ghostface Killah, another member of the Wu-Tang Clan is on the next song.
Gambino has my favorite lines of the songs in his energetic verse. The first of which is:
“ Shopping in Manhattan and I ran into my old chick.
Pride is a bitch. I am not a grown up. “
I can relate to this, because whenever I used run into one of my exes or a chick with whom it ended badly it’s always sketch and awkward and in that regard I guess I wasn’t really a grown up. Pride gets in the way of mentally growing up sometimes. So I made peace with the old and everything is straight mafia now. But this isn’t about me it’s about the song, so lets continue.
The other lines that I really like are:
“Put her in the club, all she wanna hear is Waka,
Put her in the crib, all she wanna hear is Waka. “
He’s describing this new generations of girls, that go out to clubs and want to get hype and then when they get back to the crib just want to keep the party going instead of chillen. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion though.
It May Be Glamour Life feat Ghostface Killah
I think is supposed to be an interlude since Gambino isn’t on it and it’s only one verse. But boy, oh boy, does Ghostface go in. It’s a dope interlude by a dope rapper. I also think that it fits very well that Gambino has members of Wu-Tang on his mixtape, which is titled Royalty, since the Wu is pretty much Rap Royalty.
Toxic feat Danny Brown
Gambino coming with the Brittney Spears sample and the homie Danny Brown. Danny Brown is one of the craziest rappers out there right now and he’s a maniac. If you haven’t heard of him, check him out here. You’re welcome.
Of course Danny Brown talks about sipping OEs and of course I have to bring it up if he does. OG with the OE.
I really like how Gambino brings up Euros in the line:
“ Euros is different colors, my wallet look like a Coogi”
Coogi is a sweater brand made famous by Biggie wearing it. The ones he used to wear are super colorful and bright, just like euros are. I can confirm that, euro bills are colorful.
I also like the line where he brings up Haribo and Gummy Bears. Shoutout to german candy, I miss you.
Silk Pillow feat Beck
This is an unlikely collab, but it is very well made. Beck’s verse is so full of metaphors and such that I’m not even gonna really attempt to dissect it. I would be writing pages on it. It’s still an interesting verse though.
I think it’s amusing how different the rap styles of both of the rappers are. I love Gambino’s verses on this though. They sound so good. His flow is so on point in them. My favorite lines from this song are:
“ What was I thinkin’? I wasn’t.
What was I drinkin’ ? I’m buzzin’ “
We’ve all had those moments when a drink wrecks us more than we think it was going too.
They don’t like me feat Chance The Rapper
I love Chance the Rapper. He’s so good. He’s also a very good rapper, check out the first lines from this song:
“ Eddy Scissorhands is workin’ on my linin’
Getting spiffy for these bitches I be eyeing.
Fredward Mercury was playin’ while I’m ridin’. “
He’s saying that he gets a haircut from Edward Scissorhands so he can look nice for the girls that he’s looking at and then he is blasting some Queen in his whip. What’s really dope about these lines is that he says “Eddy Scissorhands” and “Fredward Mercury” when it should be “Edward Scissorhands” and “Freddy Mercury”. I don’t know, but I think it’s super dope. Also shoutout to Edward Scissorhands because whenever I hear that I think of Edward 40 Hands.
I think it’s funny that Gambino only has a small verse in this song and is just on the hook. After this I find is kind of fair that Chance doesn’t have a verse on “The Worst Guys” even though I wish he did and I already covered what probably happened there.
I love the way Gambino ends the song:
“ I don’t think they like me. (I don’t think they like me.)
I don’t think I’m icy. I think I’m aight, B.
N*ggas wanna fight me? That’s unnecessary.
I don’t quit for shit, that’s my legendary. “
He’s basically saying that he doesn’t think that they like him and that he doesn’t think that he sees himself as being an alright rapper. He says there is no reason to fight him, since it won’t change anything. No matter what he never quits.
Arrangements feat Gonage
This beat is simple yet solid. It doesn’t sound bad at all. I don’t really know who Gonage is, but he’s not too bad. Gambino’s verse on this song is solid as well. I like this song.
Won’t Stop feat Danielle Haim of HAIM
I really like Gambino’s verse on this song, but I really dislike the rest of this song. I don’t know why, it just doesn’t appeal to me. Gambino’s verse gets me so hyped and then it just mellows out after. I don’t know, just doesn’t work for me. It’s that singing thing that rappers do that I don’t like. No matter who you are or how good you are at it.
Bronchitis
I like this song a whole lot. The verse is solid the rest of the song is also pretty good. I think the reason that I like this song more than the previous is that the actual rapping part of the song is way longer and better than the previous one. Gambino’s flow on this song is redic.
I really like the first few lines of the verse, even though one of my best friend hates them more than anything:
“ Fiji Water and a box of old Rasinets.
I got a real taste for dying, but I ain’t do it yet. “
I got a real taste for dying, but I ain’t do it yet. “
I don’t know why but I think it sounds dope.
Wonderful feat Josh Osho
This song isn’t too bad, I don’t hate it. It’s just nothing special, I don’t know. It has nothing that appealing to me.
Make It Go Right feat Kilo Kish
I don’t really like this song either. I mean again like the previous song, it’s not horrid. I just don’t know.
Real Estate feat Alley Boy, Swank & Tina Fey
This song is all about how Gambino and his homies are buying houses and stuff with their money. The style of this song pretty much embodies the whole “Hood” theme of this mixtape. I really like this song, mostly because of Tina Fey.
Tina Fey is the gem of this song, because of her outro verse. She’s making fun of outros by other rappers. She brings up “Racks” by YG and other stereotypical rap song things.
She also has my favorite line of the whole song is by Tina Fey, when she says:
“ Gambino is forever, Royalty is forever.”
Truer words have not been said.
I really like this mixtape and I think that it isn’t as bad as people think it is. People hated on it because it was not the usual Gambino, but I think that it shows him growing up and taking risks. A rapper who just stays in their comfort zone is boring. I’m not saying that all rappers should do something like this, because if you look at Lil Wayne, who did a rock album, you can see that this can easily lead to garbage. If you do it well then I’m all for it though.
I’d give this a 9/10.
Peace homies.
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