The Deal: NBC Community & DERRICK Comedy star, Donald Glover, proves his side project is more than just noise.

The Good: Pulling from a truly unique set of experiences, Glover spits on  broad range of topics from the stress of being a cultural outsider in his own community ("I wanna hang with Lil Wayne, I just hope I'm Black enough..."), being broke in college, standard lady troubles, self-doubt in his newfound  fame and oh yeah, chilling with Tina Fey. His honesty and enthusiasm is refreshing, blending carefree lyrics about the party life ("NBC won't be the only thing I'm coming on tonight...") with sincere lyrics about the pressures of being a writer on a hit TV show, aspiring actor and rising comedian when you're 25. Entirely self-produced (with Ludwig Garonsson), the beats were dope and different. More electronic and eclectic than his Southern brethren with flashes of his electronic mashups and remixes he previously released under the name MC DJ.

His NYC connections make you forget he's actually from Atlanta.

He acknowledgeded those doubting his side gig, "They said him rapping was like MJ [Michael Jordan] and baseball but that would me MJ so motherfuck all of yall..." No "I'm On A Boat" rhymes here, but there's no doubt being a comedian didn't hurt his punchlines.

The Bad: Impossible to ignore his voice and cadence are Lil Wayne-esque, it almost sounds like an impression sometimes and he dropped about 10 too many swaggers.

The Verdict: Jokes aside, there's nothing amateur about Culdesac. For what may be lacking lyrically, the production more than picks up. Donald Glover may be a legit triple threat.

INFO

Release date: July 2, 2010

Download Childish Gambino's Culdesac.

Tracklist:

15. The Last