There is more to music than just the lyrics and the message that the audience receives from this. In the original version of “Redbone”, you can hear the soul in Gambino’s voice – which is influenced by classic funk music from 1960s-70s – and this sticks with the audience. He starts with consistent tones, but as song progresses, you hear more auto-tune (vocoder-esque) and futuristic technology sounds. This has been one of my favorite songs for a while, but it is not the kind of song you would want to dance to. When I listen to this, I just want to sit down and listen/”vibe” by taking in the sounds. Still, you can really feel the funk/beat from Gambino. Futuristic technology and auto-tune helps him to make the song beat/tones sound fantastic. Gambino actually did not use any auto-tune in changing his voice, which is one of the reasons why this song has gained so much popularity in the R&B community. We generally associate Gambino with “harder” or more typical rap – see “bonfire” song as an example. His “Awaken, my Love!” however, album is different from his past & future work, as this features less actual rapping and slower beats. Also, this song is about his relationship, but here lyrics are not as important. Gambino makes references to “peanut butter.. chocolate..Kool-Aid” but the audience does not pick up on that. The song is 80 BMP, slightly offbeat which is cool! This gives Gambino a unique tone/track that I have not seen in another modern-day R&B, as the extended “outro” (which lasts 2 minutes) is not common, but again helps to make the song a banger.
In the Holocene cover, the instrumental part is very similar here – could almost pass for original Gambino instrumental. This is a live performance by a vocalist/guitar, bass, keyboard, and drummer. There seems to be much more of an emphasis on the lyrics in this song, as without auto-tune in the song and the unique singing style of Gambino, the lyrics are much easier to understand. In this version, there are much less fluctuations in the pitch of the voice in comparison to original version.
In comparing the two, there are a lot of positive reviews of this cover, but nothing can compare to the art from Gambino. The cover isn’t necessarily bad, but it is truly lacking the uniqueness in voice that only Gambino can naturally produce. Also, the changes in pitch in the original version are effective in drawing in the audience/still keeping the song intriguing. In comparison, the cover song seems to get old pretty fast, as it takes a few minutes for the pitch to change – when the song finally transitions over at 3:06. While you can tell there is passion in the cover, nothing can compare to the soul you feel in the Gambino version. Even though the lyrics are easier to understand in the cover, Gambino’s goal in my opinion was to convey the “funk” and not have a rich story behind the lyrics. He meant for some of his lyrics to go under the radar. Honestly, by the end of listening to the cover version once, I don’t have any desire to listen to it again. This is disrespectful to Gambino, as the same emotions and feelings from the original version are not conveyed in this cover. From Weheliye, there seems to be something here in the post humanism that is improved through acknowledging race and the use of auto-tune. When we (as a society) acknowledge that using auto-tune can improve or even be vital to a song’s success, this will be an incredible achievement. By not using auto-tune in the cover, this is almost taking a shot at Gambino as this is asking people to judge Gambino’s work based on the lyrics/performance aspect – and this was not his intention in “Redbone.” Similarly, we don’t generally judge a country singer (who is typically white) based off lyrics, but instead we judge these songs base off the amount popularity and the tune/flow. Moreover, few people choose to perform covers of country songs and change the intended tune/performance method – which is what was done in this cover of “Redbone.” Again, Gambino is not a lyrical genius but he is very “soulful” and engages audiences by challenging them in thinking about problems extending past music. One example is in his “This is America” music video that has left some puzzled and generated lots of popularity through the constant implications of societal violence entrenched in racism and police brutality that exists today. If you haven’t watched this video, click the link below as this is one indication for the future of the music industry.
Source (for music breakdown): https://bwh2017.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/track-analysis-redbone/
Redbone (by Childish Gambino): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8
Cover (by Holocene): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s–ATPblCTE
“This is America” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY
