Go backstage with The Music and receive FREE:

  • Exclusive members-only editorial, charts
  • Our subscriber-only newsletter
  • Members only competitions to win tickets, experiences and more
  • Access to our street press archives
  • First access to our exclusive limited edition vinyl variants

Thank you for being a part of our community! Enter your email address as verification and you'll be taken backstage right away.

Please ensure that you provide a valid email address.

Album Review: Childish Gambino - Awaken, My Love!

Nic Addenbrooke
StarStarStarStarHalf Star

"Not just some of Gambino's best work, but some of the best out there."

More Childish Gambino Childish Gambino Profile

If his work on the FX program Atlanta has shown anything, it's that Donald Glover delights in defying expectation. 

Now, acting as Childish Gambino, it's on display again - taking the roots of his earlier work on a surprising but enthralling trajectory. Much in the same way his show fuses magical realism with the absurd and high-human drama, so to does Awaken, My Love! fuse the best of some disparate elements into something far more, heading away from rap fundamentals and wandering closer to Zappa territory while wearing George Clinton's funk shoes. Full of howling passion and exemplary funk, this is not just some of Gambino's best work, but some of the best out there.