Country : United States Label : RCA Genres and styles : Art Pop / Future Soul / Hip Hop / Soul/R&B Year : 2020

3.15.20

· by Alain Brunet

In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, Childish Gambino’s 3.15.20 has all the attributes of a thunderclap: unexpected, spectacular, daring, unifying. Donald Glover first broadcast the material in a loop on his website, and then withdrew it until Monday, 23 March. Since then, the opus has been put online on all the platforms of the known universe. Each song on the album bears the title of its timestamp, with the exception of “Algorhythm” (a critique of our dependence on SEO algorithms) and “Time” (with the participation of pop star Ariana Grande). The hit “Feels Like Summer” also surfaces in this batch, renamed “42.26” for the occasion. Apart from Ariana Grande, this album also counts on the collaboration of the U.K.’s MC Savage, Swedish producer Ludwig Göransson (four tracks), the American musician and singer Khadja Bonet, DJ Dahi, Chukwudi Hodge, Kurtis McKenzie, James Francies Jr and even his son, Legend Glover. Several songs rely on an essentially electronic deployment, others subscribe to the instrumental conventions of soul/R&B. There are a variety of approaches on this opus, and we certainly can’t call Childish Gambino conformist in this case: electro, abstract hip hop, indie folk, soul and R&B make up the repertoire of an album that is more exploratory than the previous ones, although easy to access as a whole. As we saw on his last tour (an exceptional show in Osheaga, to cite the Montreal example), Donald Glover is a brilliant and visionary artist when he combines all the components of his art: music, vocals, rap, video, scriptwriting, audiovisual production, theatrical play. Under the pseudonym Childish Gambino, this highly talented artist crafts quality rhymes and the same goes for his hip hop, R&B and electro music, but… nothing life-changing up to this point. A little bolder than his previous recordings, could opus 3.15.20 herald true conceptual leadership in music? To ask the question…

Latest 360 Content

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Turnstile – Never Enough

Turnstile – Never Enough

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Dianne Reeves and Romero Lubambo: An Intimate Duo of Virtuosos

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Brandon Woody’s Upendo: Baltimore Represents !

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

FIJM | Stella Cole: From Tik Tok to The Biggest Jazz Stages

ALICE on Her X

ALICE on Her X

FIJM  | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Samara Joy: Pushing Classic Vocal Jazz Repertoire to its Limits

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

FIJM | Nas symphonic and Nas not symphonic

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Jellicle KIKI Ball #2 – Feline Grace is Served

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

Suoni | The Dark, Wicked, Warm and Absurd on the Same Dish

FIJM | Azimuth: Brazilian Jazz Fusion of the Highest Order

FIJM | Azimuth: Brazilian Jazz Fusion of the Highest Order

FIJM | Anomalie and Lewis: Two hour Jam by Two Heavy Hitters

FIJM | Anomalie and Lewis: Two hour Jam by Two Heavy Hitters

FIJM | Thanya Iyer and Arooj Aftab, Perfect Transplants!

FIJM | Thanya Iyer and Arooj Aftab, Perfect Transplants!

Festival de Lanaudière | Renaud Loranger Explains The Program

Festival de Lanaudière | Renaud Loranger Explains The Program

FIJM | Kojo Melché Roney, Born to Drum

FIJM | Kojo Melché Roney, Born to Drum

FIJM 2025 | King Makaya triumphs again

FIJM 2025 | King Makaya triumphs again

FIJM | It’s About Time to Ackowledge Peter Evans Fabulous Playing

FIJM | It’s About Time to Ackowledge Peter Evans Fabulous Playing

FIJM | Yasmin Williams: Reinventing The Guitar!

FIJM | Yasmin Williams: Reinventing The Guitar!

FIJM | Natalia Lafourcade Sparks a Place des Arts Gone Mexican

FIJM | Natalia Lafourcade Sparks a Place des Arts Gone Mexican

FIJM | Clown Core: the theatre of extremes, between Pennywise and Krusty

FIJM | Clown Core: the theatre of extremes, between Pennywise and Krusty

Domaine Forget | A Summer of Discovery

Domaine Forget | A Summer of Discovery

FIJM | Wynton & JLCO: Something of an Opening Ceremony

FIJM | Wynton & JLCO: Something of an Opening Ceremony

Subscribe to our newsletter