''Royalty'' (stylized as ''R O Y A L T Y'') is the sixth mixtape by American rapper and actor

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...

, under the stage name Childish Gambino. It was released by

Glassnote Records Glassnote Records (also known as Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC) is a record label that was launched by American music executive Daniel Glass in 2007. The label primarily has a lineup of indie rock and alternative rock artists, most notably M ...

on July 4, 2012. The album has many featured artists and is produced by Glover and his co-producer

Ludwig Göransson Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (; ; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish composer, conductor and record producer. He has scored films such as ''Fruitvale Station'', the ''Rocky'' franchise entries ''Creed'' and ''Creed II'', ''Venom'', and '' Ten ...

, as well as

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) 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 music, lo-fi style, and became ...

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da ( , a play on "boy wonder"), is a Jamaican-Canadian Record production, record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto raised producer has work ...

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 from Queens in New York City. Best known for being part of the alternative hip hop group Das Racist, Suri is also the founder of Greedh ...

, better known as Heems of

Das Racist Das Racist was an American alternative hip hop group based in Brooklyn, composed of MCs Heems and Kool A.D. and hype man Ashok Kondabolu (a.k.a. Dapwell or Dap). Known for their use of humor, academic references, foreign allusions, and unconven ...

, 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 Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot ...

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. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...

and

Ab-Soul Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...

. 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 Airmiess Joseph Asghedom (August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle (often stylized as Nipsey Hu$$le), was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip hop scene in the mid- ...

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. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

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 award ...

'' 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 Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

''", Jason Gardner of

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...

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