As we know, Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino's rap career has been one defined by its unexpected moves. These include, but are certainly not limited to, putting "30 Rock" pal Tina Fey on the same track as Alley Boy, tapping a Swedish composer as his go-to collaborator, and packaging his last album with a 72-page screenplay. Needless to say, it's difficult (if not impossible) to predict his next move.
Gambino's just begun shedding light on his impending follow-up to 2013's Because The Internet, most recently performing a new track at Bonnaroo over the weekend. It'd be futile to attempt to tell you what to expect from his next LP, so instead, we're just gonna stick with what we want to hear from it. The product will probably end up being drastically different than our idealized versions of it, but it'll be better that way.
A Migos collab
In a recent Q&A session, Glover revealed that he had texted the Atlanta trio's manager, hoping to set up a collab. As Offset's still behind bars, this might be an impossible task, but maybe Glover will be able to bring Quavo into his wildly different universe? After all, Quavo's fresh from proving that he's the group's most versatile member with a great feature on SURF, so he'd probably have the easiest time adapting to whatever track Gambino threw him on.
Despite his more alternative leanings, Glover's always shown a desire to collaborate with his fellow ATLiens, and he's got the artistic vision to make a Migos feature fit within his aesthetic.
More singing/more of a rock influence
Gambino's musical scope has always been grandiose, lots of that thanks to his partnership with the aforementioned Ludwig Goransson, but it took a while for him to find his footing while singing over ambitious musical backdrops. When he debuted Because The Internet's "Shadows" on the Arsenio Hall show two years ago, for instance, he sounded like he was doing his best Frank Ocean impression over a jazzy soup of an instrumental. Things improved on STN MTN/Kauai, but we're looking for Gambino to continue expanding his horizons while backing it up with more legit melodic talent.
The track he just debuted at Bonnaroo seems to showcase just that, with Glover delivering impassioned, impressive vocals over a muscular instrumental supplied by a live band. With this in mind, we're thinking that his next venture will be more rock-influenced, especially since he seems like the type of dude who loves the idea of a "rock opera." There's also a 50-person choir in the mix, so that can't hurt!
A cohesive sound
One of the main critiques of Because The Internet, and even to a larger extent on the disjointed STN MTN/Kauai, was the lack of cohesion. Glover was clearly trying to establish himself as "not your average rapper" with forays into a plethora of styles, but this often seemed more like showing off than any sort of artistic curation. Whatever new sound(s) he tackles on the new one, we'd like to see him pay a little more attention to the overall sound and vibe of the project as a whole. BTI had a number of mini-suites that gelled together quite well, but let's see that philosophy applied to an entire full-length.
Another radio hit (or three) like "3005"
Ever since he began rapping, Gambino's had a pretty ravenous cult following. As he's a self-professed nerd who creates worlds of his own for every new project, this type of fanbase is to be expected, but what really catapulted him to the next level of stardom was "3005." In part due to his friendship with Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg, Gambino saw the BTI track take off early last year as a radio hit, gaining him new fans galore. For the new album, it definitely wouldn't hurt to toss a couple of similarly-anthemic cuts into the mix.
It's getting harder and harder to predict what songs will blow up, but Gambino's now got the melodic sensibility and expansive rolodex that are often catalysts for chart-toppers. We by no means want him to water down his product, but another popular banger would certainly catapult Gambino to the next level of rap stardom.
A dope concept
This one's basically a given, considering Glover's last two projects-- especially the one that he called "the first concept mixtape ever." As a screenwriter, he's clearly got the chops necessary to weave storylines in and out of his lyrics, and to make a whole body of work revolve around central themes, characters, and/or places. This has been one of his greatest strengths, and while we'd like to see some progression in other areas of his craft, we'd like his next album to retain a conceptual framework.
As previously mentioned, a rock opera of sorts would be dope (and quite the challenge for Gambino, who seems to like pushing himself), but even if that genre's influence isn't there, something more epic would be nice. Because The Internet and STN MTN both focused on pretty small, but nonetheless intriguing, concepts, but seeing him take on a big, ambitious story in his music would be awesome. It'd be a huge risk, but one that we think he'd pull off.