On July 11, award-winning artist and actor Donald Glover, also known by his pseudonym Childish Gambino, released his newest EP as a surprise to his fans. The summer-themed EP consists of two songs and lasts for a total of eight and a half minutes. Titled “Summer Pack”, the duo captures the season’s upbeat feeling it brings upon people. The pair contrasts significantly from Gambino’s most recent single “This is America.” The light and airy sensation of the “Summer Pack” tracks differ greatly from heavy-beat trap vibe of “This is America.”
“Summertime Magic” and “Feels like Summer” make up the two songs in “Summer Pack.” “Summertime Magic” fills the spot of the first track, and it is notably the catchier and more upbeat sibling of the two. With kettle drums and Gambino’s soothing voice speaking of love and positive summer vibes, this song is one meant to play at a pool party in the middle of July. Representing the bitter-sweet track in the duo, “Feels like Summer” tackles the controversy surrounding climate change and its effect on the summer season. The vocals, keyboard, and guitar in the track still maintain the catchiness of the “Summer Pack”, however, the lyrics capture the overbearing heat during the season. Verse two of “Feels like Summer” contains the lyric, “Every day gets hotter than the one before,” representing the increase in temperature. Verse two also mentions, “Air that kills the bees that we depend upon/ Birds were made for singing/ Waking up to no sound,” which refers to the environment affecting the two species’ populations. Gambino uses his music to spread and influence his political views among the listeners. The hit single “This is America” from the artist also uses politically charged lyrics along with a controversial music video to translate his emotions and beliefs, so this use of politics in his music occurs often.
Remarkably, the songs in “Summer Pack” contrast each other beautifully. “Summertime Magic” targets a certain love-interest of Gambino’s in a romantic way. “You’ll be my valentine in the summer,” he sings, proclaiming his affection for his love. This lyric shows he prefers celebrating Valentine’s Day in the warmer season. “Feels like Summer” somberly describes the global warming crisis in hopes to keep others aware of the drastically changing environment.
Gambino began his final tour ever on Sept. 6 in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, and the tour will end on Oct. 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. The tour features Rae Sremmurd and Vince Staples, but a conflict already occurred on a set recently. On Sept. 24, Gambino performed in Dallas, Texas but had to end the concert abruptly due to an injury. During the set, Gambino reportedly broke his foot and left the stage without performing his more popular songs which left fans confused and upset. Gambino still performed both “Summertime Magic” and “Feels like Summer” in the setlist, but left out hit songs “Redbone”, “Sober”, and “3005”.
“Summer Pack” epitomizes the summer season in a wonderfully unique two-song anthem. After listening to it a few times, you can reminisce on the past few months of summer vacation and begin to prepare for autumn.
