The name ‘Donald Glover’ doesn’t really ring many bells in the hip-hop scene. Enter this name into a Wu-Tang name generator and you’re left with one of the hottest names in the game. Childish Gambino made his debut live UK performance on Wednesday 25th January 2012 at CAMP (which is also the title of his album), and with two sold out shows under his belt, it was sure to be a roadblock. Courtney Buck went down to the CAMP in London to see if all the Gambino hype was true…

Having reached CAMP at 7.30pm, I thought I’d breeze through the door to a semi full room. WRONG! As I approached, I noticed the queue was trailing around the corner. Seems there was a slight delay. But we finally started moving into the venue around 8.30pm. By 9pm, the room was heaving, and with DJ Semtex on the decks, the room was moving nicely. Shortly after 9pm, opening act Josh Osho took to the stage. With his band and CJ Beatz on the decks, Osho went through a number of tracks from his forthcoming album, including ‘Giants’, ‘Ebenezer Hotel’ and personal favourite ‘S.O.S’. While the crowd were clearly there to see Gambino, they seemed very supportive of Josh. As opening acts go, I don’t think they couldn’t have picked a better choice.

After Josh Osho’s set, Semtex took to the deck again to fill time while they set up for Gambino’s impeding arrival. If you’ve ever been to an event with Semtex, you know what to expect. If you haven’t - expect a mix of new & old with a twist of the unexpected. A real party starter for sure.

After a longer than expected intermission, Childish Gambino took to the stage from a side door. Jumping on stage with a burst of energy and back by his band (which even consisted of a live violinist who also acted as a backing singer).

Watching Gambino is an energetic experience. He has real die-hard fans who have been following his career from the very beginning. Unbeknown to me, prior to attending the show, Gambino has, in fact released 3 albums, 2 mixtapes and an EP, so a lot of the songs he performed, I hadn’t heard before. He did, however, perform a lot of material from the CAMP album, including ‘Bonfire’ ‘Heartbeat’ and current UK single ‘All The Shine’ all of which were incredibly well received by the crowd. Gambino even took John Legend’s cover of Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’ with the Jamie xx version of the same song, and created an extraordinary freestyle.

For a first show, you certainly couldn’t tell. Childish Gambino has clearly been working on his live shows for some time. His energy & presence could be felt all across London. My only qualm is, next time; he needs to be in a bigger venue!

http://www.twitter.com/DonaldGlover

http://www.twitter.com/Joshoshomusic

Words: Courtney Buck

Live Photography: Josh Osho