In Childish Gambino’s latest album, Awaken My Love!, he chose to ditch the idea of rap and bring in all new sounds to the table. With unique beats and a funk vibe that is rarely found anywhere, this album stands out as one of the most unique of its kind.

The style in Awaken My Love! is unlike anything of what you will find elsewhere, as each song digs deep into Gambino’s personal life. The lyrics are also much more meaningful than his previous releases, such as Camp or Because the Internet.

His earlier work is composed of mostly rap, so it was a big surprise when this new release included no rap at all. The initial two songs, “Me and Your Mama” and “Redbone,” released a few weeks before the entire album, gave his fans enough time to see what the big picture would be like.

In Redbone’s love story, Gambino throws in the occasional heartfelt lyric such as “It made me put away my pride” to highlight how he felt about having to “wait for some, so long.”

By digging deep into his personal life and singing about milestones like the recent birth of his son. In “Baby Boy,” he chooses to preface the song with “Little hands, little feet/ Tiny heart, tiny beat” to reflect the preciousness of his newborn son, and to extract heartfelt emotions from listeners

He has always had a forte for love songs, like previous releases “3005” from Because the Internet and “LES” from Camp, however, this time around brought something so much more special and personal.

Another favorable aspect about the album is that each song is different from the one before it, making it very hard to lose track. They each have their own very unique beat and lyrics, from the spacious lullaby that is “Baby Boy” to the bass-filled instrumental found in “Terrified.” The feeling that the album has is simply unlike anything he had created before. Much like André 3000 and Kanye West, Gambino seems to have realized that his music can be just as resonant, if not more so, when he brings a hip-hop feeling to vocals and melodies, and leaves the bars behind.

In my opinion, Awaken My Love! is Gambino’s best work ever. He has said in recent interviews that he will soon stop making music to pursue his career as an actor. He recently won a Golden Globe for Atlanta, a TV show he directs, produces, and stars in. He also had a role in the newest Star Wars and has appeared in several other shows and movies throughout the years. It seems to me that Gambino is on his way to an even more successful career, both in acting and in music, and that the best is yet to come.