Donald Glover has his hand in nearly every beat of the entertainment industry. He’s noted for being a rapper, musician, actor, producer, stand-up comedian and the most attractive man on earth. (That last one was more of an opinion, but a correct opinion nonetheless.)
It’s no question that Glover is a man of many talents – he’s won multiple awards for his music, television shows, and films. In light of his recent casting as Simba in Disney’s 2019 adaptation of The Lion King, Glover has received a lot of attention, and I may or may not have been more excited to hear that he was in the movie than I was about Beyoncé playing Nala.
Music
As someone in the music, film, television, and comedy industries, Glover has a vast array of content to listen and watch. Beginning with his (arguably) better-known name, let’s get into the music library of Childish Gambino.
From the beginning of his music career, Glover’s been using the stage name Childish Gambino. The name came from Wu-Tang Clan’s name generator and has stuck since his first project came out in 2008.
Glover began releasing music in the form of self-produced mixtapes. He released seven mixtapes: “Sick Boi,” “Poindexter,” “I AM JUST A RAPPER,” “I AM JUST A RAPPER 2,” “Culdesac,” “R O Y A L T Y,” and ”STN MTN” (better known for its extended release, “Kuai”.) Note that this is just a general listing of names. The intricacies and guest appearances of other artists are another topic entirely. The sheer volume of his music is nothing short of overwhelming.
Three studio albums are under Glover’s belt, all backed by the label Glassnote Records. The year 2011 marked the release of his first album titled “Camp”. “Camp” managed to land number two on the U.S. Hip Hop / R&B as well as U.S. Rap charts.
Glover’s sophomore album, “Because the Internet” (2013) is his most successful by far. This project earned the number one spot on the U.S. Rap chart and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.
His most recent album, “Awaken, My Love!” came out in 2016 and marked a journey away from rap. “Awaken, My Love!” is heavy with psychedelic soul, funk, and R&B influence. Receiving positive reviews overall, this album still hasn’t garnered quite the same popularity as “Because the Internet”. But it has possibly introduced a new sound to expect from Childish Gambino.
Television and Film
Glover began his career for the small screen as a writer, executive story editor, and actor for the NBC comedy, “30 Rock” in 2006. After seeing success behind the camera, Glover’s own standup show aired on Comedy Central in 2011. If you want a good laugh, his program “Weirdo” is currently available on Netflix.
A huge opportunity came his way in 2016 when Glover signed with FX for his show “Atlanta”. Glover created all 10 episodes, wrote four of them and directed two. He also acts as the main protagonist, Earnest Marks.
“Atlanta” follows an up-and-coming rapper, Alfred “Paper Boi” in Atlanta, GA. Alfred, his cousin Earn and friend Darius go through various hoops towards success in the music industry. While the show itself is both entertaining and funny, it manages to weave in social commentary every episode. Topics vary from social media, racism, stereotyping, drugs, violence, and prostitution.
Creating a show with parallel tracks of humor and message is no small feat. Unlike traditional comedies where character arcs happen in 30 minutes (think: The Office, Seinfeld, New Girl etc.), the main characters of “Atlanta” manage to continue their own humorous tropes while also growing in depth. Glover utilizes the type of humor that’s only effective if you’re aware of the problems in the world around you.
The character Earn is Glover’s biggest role considering screen time per episode. But spanning more than 12 years, he has 78 acting credits according to his IMBD page. Some of his most recognizable roles have been in “The Martian” (2015), “The Lazarus Effect” (2015), “Community” (2009-2014), and “30 Rock” (2006-2012).
It’s unrealistic to list all of Glover’s screen achievements, but I’ll say this: he has a lot. Glover also creates, writes and stars in all of his own videos and short films related to his music.
Awards
Nominations for Glover began in 2007, for two Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards along with the rest of the cast of “30 Rock”. The show won for Comedy Series the next three years in a row. In 2017 he won the same WGA award for “Atlanta”.
Glover was nominated for Best Actor in a Show (Atlanta) this year at the MTV Movie + TV awards. In fact, “Atlanta” has been nominated for a myriad of awards, many of which are for episode-based imagery, quality, and writing.
Furthering his acting credits, Glover won Best Actor in a Comedy Series at the Critics Choice Television Awards in 2016. He won both Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Director for a Comedy Series at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards. Topping off his screen awards, Glover also nabbed a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy.
Music award nominations and wins are in no shortage, but Glover’s standout nominations were at the 2015 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance (3005), and Best Rap Album (Because the Internet).
The End of Gambino
After nearly a decade of music from Childish Gambino, a shift is happening. Glover is putting more of his efforts and time into producing, writing, and acting. It’s even rumored that Childish Gambino might disappear forever after recent quotes from Glover.
During a performance at this year’s Governor’s Ball, Glover addressed the crowd, saying “You’re in my heart. I’ll see you for the last Gambino album.” This is understandably upsetting to hardcore Gambino fans (ahem… this made me tear up when I heard it.) But with seven mixtapes and three studio albums to listen to, we have more music from our favorite artist than most.
Glover wants to continue pushing the envelope with his show “Atlanta” as well as any other project he signs up for. During a press release, he informed The Huffington Post of his reasons for giving the ax to his alter ego: “There’s nothing worse than, like, a third sequel, like a third movie and we’re all like, ‘again?’”
Glover further explained his thoughts by saying “You know, I like it when something’s good and when it comes back there’s a reason to come back, there’s a reason to do that.” In his own words, he wants his endeavors to be “punk”. Only the new, exciting, unique and purposeful projects have grabbed his attention so far, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
Witty raps, genre-defying music, multi-faceted writing, and intelligent comedy are all in Glover’s repertoire. And whether it’s music or on the screen, I can’t wait to see what he comes out with next.