Childish Gambino Essentials
Donald Glover is the kind of guy who makes the rest of us wonder what we're even doing with our lives. Actor, writer, director, comedian, hip-hop artist—he manages to do them all, not in a dilettantish, jack-of-all-trades kind of way but rather in a let's-win-Golden Globes-and-headline-Coachella kind of way. Stand-up chops, slick wordplay and a goofy nasal delivery powered his early Childish Gambino mixtapes and indie albums, but by the time he released 2013's hazy, sunny <I>Because the Internet</I>, he'd come into his own as an MC and singer, largely shedding his jokey persona for a more serious approach. His range and cultural impact have only widened as his subject matter has grown darker, more ambitious and more curious. <I>"Awaken, My Love!”</I>, which yielded the falsetto-driven hit “Redbone”, is a neon funk-soul odyssey in the vein of Sly & The Family Stone and George Clinton. And 2018's politically charged “This Is America”—a gospel-assisted commentary on gun violence and racism that pulls no punches—not only earned him Grammys for Song and Record of the Year; they were also the first hip-hop wins for either category.