"Awaken, My Love!"

On June 17, 2016, after a hiatus from social media, Glover tweeted "pharos.earth", a link to download his new app. The app itself placed the user in outer space looking at a small blue planet while a clock counted down to zero. The app then had the user crash down from space, placing them on a map that was located on Joshua Tree, California. The app then showed the dates of his upcoming performances in Joshua Tree, where the user could also purchase tickets. The concert festival was to debut the album and give the audience the "full-album experience". From September 3 to 5, nearly three months before the release of his album, Glover held three concert performances at Joshua Tree to debut the album. Glover wore glow-in-the-dark paint on his braids and a pink and yellow skirt, with his bandmates wearing similar attire. He performed eleven songs during the concert with minimal rapping, mainly featuring a funk/jazz style. Glover modified his Pharos app upon its release so that users could watch the success of his first lead single, "Me and Your Mama" at Joshua Tree through a phone virtual reality lens. == Cover artwork ==

The cover of "Awaken, My Love!" features a photo by New York City-based creative director Ibra Ake, in which model Giannina Oteto wears a beaded headdress designed by Laura Wass of WXYZ Jewelry. Prior to the album's release, the cover artwork was included as an easter egg in the episode "Juneteenth" of Glover's FX series Atlanta. The cover artwork is also a nod to the cover of Funkadelic's 1971 album Maggot Brain. For years, Oteto has accused Ake and his team of avoiding legal contact to actually receive payment for her contribution to the project, and that she is not alone in the fight. "We received low pay. [They] promised residuals. But [we] never received anything... After years of lies and silence then finding out statute of limitation complications... it's been an exhausting, emotional, and overall sad thing to deal with. So it took so much from me especially the fact that we all worked on it with so much love and being proud to represent black artists. All of my lawyers' communications have been ignored by [Childish Gambino] and his team. #bittersweet." ==Singles==

"Me and Your Mama" was released as the album's lead single on Beats 1 radio and the iTunes Store on November 10, 2016, while "Redbone" was released a week later, premiering on Annie Mac's Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1. On September 19, 2017, "Terrified" was sent to urban contemporary radio as the album's third single. ==Critical reception==

"Awaken, My Love!" was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 77, based on 25 reviews. with The Guardians Gwilym Mumford adding "only the limitations of his voice occasionally let him down – he doesn't quite have the range to nail Awakens more ostentatious vocal lines. Still, it's a minor gripe when there's so much here to enjoy". Tim Sendra of AllMusic said, ""Awaken, My Love!" is a stone-cold blast from beginning to end". Critic Robert Christgau regarded the album as "a seriously overrated piece of romantic P-Funk retro that owes its Grammy nomination to Atlanta". Year-end lists Industry awards ==Commercial performance==

"Awaken, My Love!" debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with 101,000 album-equivalent units, marking the third highest debut of the week. It was the fourth best-selling album of the week, selling 72,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album was also streamed 41.5 million times in the first week. It is Glover's highest-charting album. On September 27, 2018, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales, streaming and track-sales equivalent of a million units in the United States. ==Track listing==

All lyrics written by Donald Glover, except "Zombies" by Glover and Ludwig Göransson; all music composed and produced by Glover and Göransson, except where noted. Notes • signifies an additional producer Sample credits • "Riot" contains a sample of "Good to Your Earhole" by Funkadelic. ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Musicians • Donald Glover – vocals (on all tracks exc. 10), percussion (tracks 1–4, 7, 8), drums (6), glockenspiel (6, 8, 10), bottles (7) • Ludwig Göransson – bass (1–3, 6, 7, 9–11), guitar (1, 3, 4, 6–8, 11), synths (1, 2, 6), Rhodes (3, 6, 11), Wurlitzer (6, 7, 9), drum programming (3, 8), mellotron (3), synth bass and harpsichord (4), cello banjo (6), B3 organ, percussion and bottles (7), synth programming and background vocals (8) • Chris Hartz – drums (1, 2, 4, 7, 9), bass guitar and Rhodes (4), percussion (7) • Ray Suen – guitar (1, 4, 7, 8, 9), synth FX and piano (4) • Brent Jones and the Best Life Singers – choir (1, 2, 4, 10, 11) • Lynette Williams – B3 organ (1, 2, 9), clavinet (9) • Zac Rae – moog synthesizer (1, 5, 8), B3 organ (1, 8) • Per Gunnar Juliusson – Rhodes (1, 8), piano (1) • Thomas Drayton – bass guitar (1, 8) • Black Party – drum programming (1) • Sam Sugarman – guitar (2) • Kari Faux – additional vocals (4) • Sofia Hoops – background vocals (5) • JD McCrary – boy soloist (8) • Gary Clark Jr. – guitar (10) • Julie Burkert and Steve Kujala – flute (11) • Dan Higgins and Phil O'Connor – clarinet (11) • Thomas Parish – woodwind arrangement (11) Production • Donald Glover – production • Ludwig Göransson – production (all exc. 2, 5, 10), additional production (2, 5), mixing (3, 11), additional mixing (4, 6, 7) • Gary Clark Jr. – production (10) • Ruben Rivera – recording • Riley Mackin – recording, mixing (1–7, 9–11) • Bernie Grundman – mastering • John Armstrong – organ, keyboard, synths and v-drums recording (1) • Bryan Carrigan – choir recording • Chris Fogel – woodwind recording (11) • Peter Rotter – woodwind contracting (11) • Andrew Dawson – mixing (8) Design • Ibra Ake – photography, art direction • Soukena Roussi – co-creative direction and styling • WXYZ – jewelry design • Sheri Pinto – makeup • Brad Ogbanna – lighting Managerial • Donald Glover – executive production • Ludwig Göransson – executive production ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==