Childish Gambino dropped a new project with an assorted track list fully marinated in his signature unpredictable style. The album name, Atavista, is a person who works to achieve social or political change. This is a reoccurring them in Gambino’s creative expressions. One of his most popular songs to date, “This is America,” is a politically incorrect song that was both loved and criticized for its radical imagery of racial tensions during a time police brutality was being heavily televised. Gambino’s writing style adds a bit of mystery to his lyrics, using metaphors quite often that unravel like the biblical Proverbs. The song spoke about the tragedies of America interchangeably between joyful singing and violent imagery, artistically highlighting Gambino’s perspective of people lacking empathy and social awareness. The big announcement of this 2024 project came through the release of a new music video for his revamped song, “Little Foot Big Foot” featuring Young Nudy. It’s a fast paced country style track showing a theatrical performance with a plot twist, to say the least. The video has already received high criticism with some arguing that the video’s theme promotes shallow values and re-enforces negative stereotypes. Some are disturbed by the uncanny storyline while others have fallen in love with the songs infections energy. The interpretation of it is subjective. The upbeat sound isn’t much of a preview of the entire album, as Gambino experimented with many music styles and instruments on this project. The moods vary drastically from one song to another. Gambino’s versatility is out of this world.
The first track is self-titled by the album name, Atavista, opens with heavy synthesizers and melodic bass strums. It’s giving “Computer Love” energy with its spacey sounds creating a soulful flare in the intro. Gambino sets the tone of the album’s subject matter in the first track with lyrics describing the perseverance needed to survive in today’s society without becoming like those who contribute to its downfall.
“Algorythm” immediately takes a different turn with a dark revamp of Zhane’s 1993 hit “Hey Mr. D.J”. The lyrics are Gambino’s perspective of society being controlled both willingly and subconsciously by popular influences. It’s a thought provoking song that is definitely a conversation starter for people who enjoy thoughtful ideology but still a bop for people who don’t.
“Time” featuring “Thank You Next” singer Ariana Grande is a proclamation of love. It seems to speak on people staying distracted and supported by relationships amidst world’s tragedies and personal problems. This one is more of a down tempo pop track sprinkled with some acoustic guitars and more of those spacey sounds from the album intro.
Listeners are wrapped right back to the old school feeling for a minute on “Psilocybae (Millennial Love)”. The title is a play on the word psilocybin, a mushroom commonly used for its psychedelic affects. It was first released as “Vibrate” on the album “Donald Glover Presents”. Featuring 21 Savage, Ink, and Kadja Bonet, this track gives R & B vibes with a mix hip hop that sounds a bit like a players ball anthem.
“To Be Hunted” expresses a somewhat paranoid perspective of how opposites attract energetically. For example, inwardly beautiful people tend to fall victim to jealous people’s retaliations. Or someone full of happiness will likely be hurt by someone who is angry or hurt in some other way.
The line “if you wanna be happy don’t look at my phone” sums up how the song “Sweet Thang” featuring Summer Walker is the perfect anthem for a toxic relationship. The computerized voices blending together works well with the sporadic robotic theme across the album. In the lyrics, Gambino is wondering why someone loves him after he’s been a terrible partner. Summer Walker comes in as the forgiving partner who accepts all of his cheating and disrespectful ways for the sake of love. The song is pretty funny, unfortunately there will likely be some people out there who can relate to it without laughing.
“Human Sacrifice” holds a strong energy that might become a party favorite if he makes it a single. The tribal drums give the song a relaxed, bouncy feel, similar to how Lionel Richie had everyone bopping on the classic “All Night Long”. The lyrics are spiritually inclined with a chanting chorus.
“Final Church” is a rebellious, alt track with Kid Rock or Lenny Kravitz energy. The verses are strong and energetic with aggressive vocals performed by Gambino himself. The lyrics describe the polarity of doing wrong things for good reasons. That opposition is also expressed through the music’s alterations. The song constantly switches between a soft, choir-hymn chorus and bridge smoothing over the aggressive vocals and drums taking over every other section. It’s a bit chaotic but honestly the buildup to the final harmonies show impressive production.
From a positive perspective, Gambino’s willingness to address controversial topics and challenge societal norms has made him a voice for change and progress. His ability to blend various genres like hip hop , R & B and funk has set him apart in the music industry.
His thoughtful lyrics and powerful performances have inspired countless fans to think critically about the world around them. However some critics have raised concerns about his use of provocative imagery and language, arguing that it can be insensitive and divisive. Despite these criticisms, Childish Gambino’s creativity and delivery of heavy messages are fluid and nearly timeless. Timeless in the way he seems to accumulate such a large body of social issues within his visuals, that his videos become a time stamp of the era he’s referring to. Many of the songs on Atavista linger at the end, which seems to be intentional for listeners to be sit with the song they’ve just experienced. To no surprise, Childish Gambino is listed as the song writer and producer for majority of this project. Through his career, he has challenged societal norms and pushed people’s personal boundaries through his deep lyrics and off-putting visual arts. Gambino’s innovative production have solidified its place as a standout project in Gambino’s discography.
This album is a thoughtful project with solid artistry and a wide range of variety that continues to push new limits and explore new musical territories. 7/10
