So, word broke recently that Donald Glover wasn't going to be spending as much time as Troy Barnes on Community as he had in the past. It was a huge bummer. But, if the result is more tracks like the freebie "Centipede" that the rapper/actor just dropped, then it may not be such a bad trade-off.
When Vulture reported earlier this month that Glover would only be appearing in five of the next season's 13 episodes the reason given was that he wanted to spend more time on his work as his rap alter ego Childish Gambino. Now it looks like he's making good on that announcement with the new track (stream/download it below), which launches from an a cappella into a lush piano-driven audio track, laced through and through with autobiographical snippets from Glover before ending in a drum-driven spoken-word.
Very few rappers can start with "'Bino will you be my baby daddy?" and end with a breakdown of hustling in the streets and stop off to say "Grandma's couch, my biggest fear and fantasy/When I ain't in her arms I'll I'm making is enemies" along the way. But Glover can, with panache.
"Centipede" is only one track, but it ain't bad, and if it leads to a whole album or mixtape—something we haven't seen from him since last year's mixtape Royalty—on the same level then maybe we can live with eight Troy-free Community episodes next fall. (And, hey, at least we're getting showrunner Dan Harmon back, right?)
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