Childish Gambino, Brixton Academy

Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, former star of Community, is coming to Brixton in August as part of his tour following up 2013's hugely ambitious album Because the Internet

Something of an artistic polymath, Glover started out writing for 30 Rock before turning his hand to acting and stand up comedy, but it is his rap career that has most of his attention these days. 

While his first album Camp, released in 2011, was a self-conscious, angry piece (the growl of the synth and guitars throughout 'Heartbeat', for example, is matched only by Glover's pinched, furious delivery), Because the Internet, like its pop culture title indicates, is more plugged in and expansive. Songs like 'Worldstar', a reference to the hugely popular Worldstarhiphop.com, a site similar to YouTube which offers unsigned artists a chance to go viral, show Glover exploring the new worlds uncovered by the internet. Laced with a hypnotic chant and his restless vocals, 'Worldstar' is replete with excerpts from videos on website and unfurls with extended jazz outro complete with scuttling percussion. 

The spot-on production, whether on brooding, sparse songs like 'No Exit' ('I'm a murderer, what can I say?') or the dreamy, chaotic ' Zealots of Stockholm (Free Information)', complements Glover's dark musings on the nature of the digital world. An ambitious artist (he also released a short film 'Clapping For The Wrong Reasons' to sit alongside Because the Internet), his performance at Brixton will doubtless see Childish Gambino bring his multi-faceted A-game to the party.