''Royalty'' (stylized as ''R O Y A L T Y'') is the sixth mixtape by American rapper and actor Donald Glover, under the stage name Childish Gambino. It was released by Glassnote Records on July 4, 2012. The album has many featured artists and is produced by Glover and his co-producer Ludwig Göransson, as well as

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da (a play on Boy Wonder) is a Canadian record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. He is an in-house producer for Drake's OVO Sound label and has prod ...

and Skywlkr.

Background

Although released on July 4, 2012, Glover announced the mixtape in January. After the announcement, there were various releases by Glover, including "Fuck Your Blog," that were not on the mixtape. Two other songs released since ''Royaltys announcement that are not included are "Eat Your Vegetables", released on April 2 through his website, and "Tell Me" featuring

Himanshu Suri Himanshu Kumar Suri (born July 6, 1985), better known by his stage name Heems, is an American rapping, rapper. Suri came to prominence as a member of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, with whom he released two mixtapes and one album. Sur ...

, better known as Heems of Das Racist, on the radio show "Chillin' Island". "Tell Me" was later released on Suri's mixtape '' Wild Water Kingdom.'' Glover has stated that he had recorded 25 songs for the mixtape. On May 14, Funkmaster Flex premiered "Unnecessary", featuring

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

and Ab-Soul. On May 16, Glover released "We Ain't Them", produced by himself and frequent collaborator Ludwig. On May 26, Glover released another track, "Black Faces", through his website, featuring Nipsey Hussle and produced by

. On May 30, he released a third track through his website which he named "Silk Pillow" (via his Twitter account), featuring

and produced by both Glover and

. On July 3, 2012, Glover released the cover of the mixtape via Instagram and his Twitter account. The same day he released the track list via Twitter.

Critical reception

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

s Chris Coplan gave the mixtape three out of five stars and found it "light on the punch lines, heavy on the swag, and an overall mighty declaration of newfound skill and confidence despite a few missteps" such as "lazy sing-talking". Corban Goble of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' complimented the guest rappers and observed "a surprising amount of quality and variety for a free mixtape." Giving it a score of 8.3 out of 10, Adam Vitcavage of '' Paste'' praised Gambino's wordplay and cited the mixtape as "easily his most ambitious and controversial eleaseyet." Although he felt it lacks the "sincerity and unique nature of '' Camp''", Jason Gardner of AbsolutePunk rated the mixtape a 78% and wrote that "the rough and tumble beats and much less punchline-glazed lyricism make this mixtape a worthwhile experience both for creator and listener."

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer.

References

External links

Download Royalty
{{Authority control 2012 mixtape albums Donald Glover albums Albums produced by Boi-1da Trap music albums by American artists