I was listening to one of my friend’s Spotify playlist, (since I’m incapable of making my own) when I stumbled upon a song that I instantly became obsessed with. The rhythm was soothing, the lyrics were deep and unique, but relatable at the same time, and the singer’s voice sounded strangely familiar. I discovered that the artist of the song was called Childish Gambino and consequently spent the following days exploring and replaying all of his songs nonstop. To be completely honest, I was and still am addicted to his music! Naturally, I decided google his entire life. At first, I was surprised that I had never heard of him before, little did I know, that was only the beginning. Impressed does not begin to describe my feeling towards Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino). He is a singer, songwriter, actor, writer, producer, and comedian: the true millennial renaissance man!

  Donald Glover was born on September 25, 1983, in California though he was raised in Georgia. Since he was young, he had an affinity for the arts. He studied in an art focused high school and then proceeded to finalize his studies in one of the top art schools in the world, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. After some research, I finally realized why his voice was familiar to me. At the beginning of his career, Glover worked as a writer and eventually did a couple of cameos on Tina Fey’s popular comedy show, 30 Rock. His career in comedy continued as he starred on NBC’s show Community as the character Troy Barnes and performed stand-up on Comedy Central. Donald Glover is currently still following his passion for film; his TV show Atlanta, which he created, produced and starred in, premiered in 2016 with great success. Still, on its first season, the show has already received two Golden Globe awards!

Along with his career in film, Glover also leads a successful music career. He is most commonly known by his artistic name Childish Gambino, under which he performs R&B and Rap. In 2011 he released his first studio album with Glassnote Records called Camp. Gambino proceeded to debut his second and most popular studio album, Because of the Internet, in 2013. Both the single “3005” as well as the album itself was nominated Grammy Awards. Finally, Childish Gambino’s most recent album Awaken, My Love! was released last year. One of the album’s single, Redbone, was ranked #1 in Billboard’s US Adult R&B category. Childish Gambino also released two extended plays: Ep and Kauai, which features one of his top hits “Sober.” In addition, he has published seven mixtapes. Unfortunately, Donald Glover announced this June that he will be retiring as Childish Gambino after he releases his next album. According to him, there is no need for him to continue under the name ‘Childish Gambino’. Even though this breaks the heart of all his fans (including me!), it is admirable to have an artist prioritize the quality and message of their music above money.  Although Glover plans on finalizing his career as Childish Gambino, he will still continue pursuing his musical career producing electronic music as “mcDJ.”

Glover has promising projects for the future. Apart from his next and (unfortunately) last album as Childish Gambino, his plans are mainly focused on his film career. He has already been cast to star in the upcoming “Star Wars” movie and to voice Simba in Disney’s 2019 remake of the iconic movie, “Lion King.” In addition, Glover is extremely dedicated to continuing his highly acclaimed TV show, Atlanta, for its second season.

He somehow manages to master a wide range of areas while continuing to constantly amaze his fans in the process. If you haven’t heard or seen his works, I highly encourage you to, because I guarantee your admiration for him will not end here!

Sources: Wikipedia, Biography.com, IMDB, Genius.com