10 years ago, Childish Gambino released his debut album “Camp.” Personally, Gambino is my favorite artist of all time, so I wanted to go back and look at “Camp” and see how it holds up, and how it compares to the albums he has released since.
I think that overall, “Camp” is a decent album. There are some good songs on it, but a lot of the songs on the album are mediocre, and a lot of them sound the same. Because a lot of the songs have very similar sounds most of these songs aren’t very memorable. His three other albums don’t really have this issue. His other albums have a lot of variety in how each song sounds, giving the songs a more unique feel.
The production on this album also feels a lot cheaper than his other albums. This might be a part of why a lot of the songs sound the same. This album sounds a lot less smooth and a lot grittier than his other albums. I’m not a huge fan of this sound mixed with Gambino’s vocals. I think his vocals are better suited for smoother sounding songs.
I think something that also must be discussed when talking about this album, and how it holds up is how some of the lyrics are problematic. In this album he uses an anti-LGBTQ+ slur, as well as other lines that that are offensive. The use of these outdates the album even though it has only been out for 10 years. This makes the album not hold up as much as it would if the songs did not include these.
Another reason I don’t think this album holds up compared to his new work is the lack of a consistent theme or story. Gambino’s other three albums have a theme or story. “Camp” more so feels like a collection of songs rather than a complete album. One of my favorite things about Gambino’s albums is the theme or story that the album plays on, and “Camp” just doesn’t have that.
So, does “Camp” hold up? Yes and no, I think it is a fine album overall. There are no bad songs, just a lot of mediocre songs with a few good ones mixed in. But “Camp” doesn’t hold up when you compare it to his later music. A good amount of the lyrics are immature or just downright offensive, the production sounds cheap and doesn’t work well with his vocals, and there is no constant theme. This is more so an album where you find the songs you like from it, put those into a playlist and listen that way rather than listening to the album top to bottom.
Mark Warren can be reached at [email protected]