We Finally Figured Out What Childish Gambino’s "Virtual Reality Vinyl" Is All About – SPIN

While America broke, Donald Gloverthrived. His long-awaited sitcomAtlantawas an exalted take on the surrealism of blackness, he introduced Bad and Boujee to the Golden Globe bourgeoisie,Awaken, My Love!was a P-funk romp too charismatic to be written off as a derivative, and Redbone is still on the Hot 100. Hes been on a creative streak that encompasses multiple mediums, and sometimes, the ideas bled into each other.

Hence the virtual reality vinyl.On November 30, the Childish Gambino website revealedAwaken, My Love!would be available in that format, whatever it meant.The concept was about as wild as an invisible car, exceptit actually cost money. The normally articulate Childish Gambino fell into vaguedescriptors when he tried to explain what exactly $59.99 would get you. Its a vinyl that you play with virtual reality, he said. Do you get abducted into the vinyl grooves and take part in some hornyJumanji? Does a life-sized hologram of Black Justin Bieber spring up from the vinyl player as a bonus?

It turns out we didnt need to stretch our imaginations because a virtual reality vinyl is a bit of a misnomer. Its a cardboard pair of virtual reality glasses that work in conjunction with the PHAROS app; you get a vinyl disc, too.Awaken, My Love!s vinyledition finally drops today, and last night, Rough Trade NYC hosted brief previews for press and the general public. Inside the record store, general admission fans lined up in front of a vinyl display that included Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and the general pantheon of classic rock musicians that makewhite men in uncombedbeards smileand silently mutter, Mmm, thats good shit. (The attending fans were mostly college age, however.) While the past was put on sale, the futuristic VR experience was held in the windowed room on Rough Trades second floor.

The future, it turns out, comprises late-90s video gamegraphics and tribal creatures. When I walked in, the room already had one brother, seated and strapped into some black and shiny VR goggles. He was smiling as he watched, so I assumed it was good. Immediately, I was greeted by a pleasant Brit working the event. After asking me cursory questions about the night (Have you heard of the performance?), I sat down and wassoon within the Gambino experience.Scored by Gambinos PHAROS performance, the VR places you in a haunted ecosphere where the jungle leaves are colored in every tropical shade but green. Animated skeletons gathered in a kumbaya, kneeling and lounging in afterlifejoy.Gambino appeared as an apparition, boyishly singing the album closer Stand Tall.

The darkness that appeared as a subtle undertone on the album threwitself to the forefront; the results were jarring enough to elicit anxiety. At one point, a ghoul that looked like a deformed Grim Fandango suddenly appeareduncomfortablyclose to my periphery. I wanted to punch it, but because virtual reality exists beyond the reach of my fists, I wouldve ended up hitting a Glassnote Records representative. For the 10 seconds faux Fandango floated before me, I sat frightened and helpless.

The phantasmagoric imagery didnt really augmentAwaken, My Love!likean immersive experience ought to. Even within the 3D jungle nocturne, I was aware California sucked. And to that point, the VR reality experience is fine because the album is fine. But the inclusion of VR rarely seems to be as forward-thinking as their users purport; it largely seems like a perfunctory use of newfound resources.Dawn Richard dropped her interactive video for Lazarus and Love Under Lights last week, and I mainly remember being in a bad way for the rest of the daynot because the video blew me away, but because it caused my Mac to glitch out. People have this tendency to view the future as this self-fulfilling prophecy waiting to manifest. Its not; its simply a new thing to do.The college kids are here for now, but eventually theyll figure it out.

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We Finally Figured Out What Childish Gambino's "Virtual Reality Vinyl" Is All About - SPIN