Artist of the Day - Childish Gambino

When Donald Glover half-laughed the line "Why does every black actor gotta rap some? I don't know, all I know is I'm the best one." on "Bonfire", he essentially summarized the state of his rapping alter-ego Childish Gambino: obsessed with his race, obsessed with himself, and ultimately insecure about the relationship between his talents. Camp was a mish-mash of ideas, wildly flailing between serious issues and immature dick-talk, hiding behind jokes and technical inproficiency. The tracks that worked were carried by production value and catchy hooks, and Donald Glover's reintroduction into the entertainment world fell mostly flat. Since then, his career has shifted significantly; in 2011 he was starring on a cult comedy, releasing a standup special, and scoring minor rap hits. In 2013 he's fleeing a sinking ship of a show to do what most of his fans wish he wouldn't: focus on rapping.

Album Review: Panic! at the Disco - Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!

Album Rating: C

It's always nice when an album title provides the perfect summary line for a lazy writer, and I have to thank whoever decided on Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!. The new Panic! At the Disco album is neither weird nor rare, and comes across entirely as a tired attempt to get with the times by copying their friends and hopping on the electro-pop bandwagon. To Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! is completely tepid and unmoving, and the gives the impression of being different simply for the sake of being different. While their more devoted fans will eat it up the same way most Fall Out Boy fans devoured Save Rock and Roll, there is so little substance to it past the tired synths and electric-fused Imagine Dragons-style anthemic pounds that unless one listens to it with their mind already made up, it goes in through one ear and out the other.