Childish Gambino took his Awaken, My Love! album to late night television on Wednesday night with a performance of “Redbone” on The Tonight Show. Backed by his band and a choir, Gambino, who opted to go shirtless and wore silver trousers, showed off his impressive falsetto for a performance that really wowed on the screen. It also answered a question that’s been lingering in the back of many people’s minds: Could he really sing or were the vocals were heard on the album the benefit of help in the studio? Right now, that answer looks and sounds like a definite “no.”
By now, everyone’s heard about how wonderful Gambino’s new album is as critics and fans have sung its praises. Even though it has only been out a few short weeks, the album is already finding its way onto year-end lists and deservedly so. The project is a funk odyssey in the vein of Parliament and the The Isley Brothers. He recently released a “virtual reality video” for the album cut “Me and Your Mama.” Add in a performance like the one above and it’s safe to say that a singing Gambino is equally as strong as his rapping counterpart.
