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Childish Gambino’s Deep Web Tour: More Than Music

Mar 12, 2014
Childish Gambino’s Deep Web Tour: More Than MusicChildish Gambino’s ambitious new album incorporates art, text, and Instagrams, not to mention a new app that ensures no two concerts on his Deep Web Tour are the same.  Because the Internet isn’t an album, it’s a multiplatform media project. Confessional Instagrams, an installation at Rough Trade NYC, a 73-page screenplay—each is an integral piece of the puzzle that unlocks the latest release from Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino. Casual listeners might raise an eyebrow: “Can’t I just, like, listen to it?” And sure, reviews have been mixed, but there’s no doubt Gambino’s grown as a rapper and writer, despite the occasional facepalm of a rhyme. You also have to admire Glover’s ambition, demonstrated further by the release of the Deep Web app, an interactive tool that lets fans send drawings and messages to the rapper during his live shows. Think he’ll regret it after the 8,000th person asks him why he left Community? Childish Gambino plays the Riviera Theatre (4746 N. Racine Ave.) on Wednesday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased here.