6.8/10
Favorite Track: "47.48" Least Favorite Track: "24.19"
Donald Glover seems to be built with a rare amount of creativity that only the luckiest of artists are blessed with. Be it film, music, or literature, Glover is the full package. With that being said 3.15.20 is (supposedly) the final musical chapter of his life under the Childish Gambino moniker. The man will undoubtedly find ways to remain creative in the future, but does 3.15.20 serve Childish Gambino with a worthy goodbye? Kind of. The roll out for this album was about as unconventional as Glover himself, with it dropping on a conspicuous website entitled donaldgloverpresents.com, where it was streamed on a continuous loop. To add to the mystery, the majority of the tracks here are absent of traditional titles. Most of them just go by a number which represents the timestamp in which the track begins in the overall runtime. These factors combined with the albums passive, and almost transparent composition lead me to believe that Glover issued this project from a stance in which he wanted his fans to solely consume the music, which is confusing considering the fact that 3.15.20 is easily his least ambitious project yet. While completely enjoyable and pleasant, the majority of these tracks feel like interludes or afterthoughts without anything in the way of refined or distinct ideas. Glover provides sonic landscapes that remain summary, pleasant, and well produced but also absent of details. With such a non-traditional presentation one might assume the music would provide something a bit more heavy, or even just topically present, but on 3.15.20 Glover tends to think his project brings more to dissect to the table than it really does. If his goal was to provide an abstract, deep, and thought-provoking, listening experience this project is a failure. However, I think in the midst of that missed opportunity lies a group of songs that provides a still worthwhile atmosphere full of summery fun, pleasant vibes, and a sweet sonic palette that is very easy on the ears. In the end, it fails to provide a deeper conceptual experience, but even at its worst 3.15.20 has plenty of sweet tunes that will be the star of any 2020 summer barbeque.