Donald Glover is the Creative Genius of Our Time

Problems. We have them, the world has them, society has them, but what do we do about them? Primarily ignore them if we’re going to be completely honest. Especially today amidst all the overstimulation of the modern technological age. Most people don’t really know who to trust, and if you’re confident your trusting the right people, you’re probably wrong. The biggest problem with todays society, in my opinion, is that we really can’t agree what the problems are. In this sort of climate, it is important that artists who wish to be politically involved, keep their eyes on the issues that actually matter. This is what Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino) did in early May 5 when he released his music video for his single “This Is America” to widespread awe and acclaim. This made Glover a national icon, but real fans know that Donald has been a fixture in counter culture for more than a decade. His intelligent commentary on love, socioeconomic disparities, racial identities etcetera have been around since 2006, it hasn’t been until recently that people have recognized it.

30 Rock (2006)

Donald Glover graduated from Tisch School of the Arts in New York with a dramatic writing degree in 2006. While he attended Tisch he self made and self produced a mixtape titled The Younger I Get that he was dissatisfied with and ultimately never released.

Shortly after graduating he wrote a spec script for the Simpsons that ended up on the desk of NBC television producer David Miner and ultimately comedy legend Tina Fey, both of whom were impressed with his work.

He was hired to be a writer for Fey’s sitcom 30 Rock in 2006. His unconventional scripts, which can be most accurately described as analytical and absurd, made him a stand out at NBC which led to one of his most memorable roles that he’s had to this day.

Community (2009)

In 2009, after a handful of cameos on 30 Rock, Donald was cast as high school athlete turned college kid embracing hid nerd side, Troy Barnes on NBC’s new Dan Harmon created sitcom Community. Glover also wrote for the show.

While Community failed to achieve the success as other NBC sitcoms at the time like The Office and Parks and Rec, it quickly gained a cult following of nerdy 16 to 30 year olds that it hold to this day, and who would become Glovers core fanbase for future endeavors.

Camp (2011)

After mainly focusing on his career as an actor/writer ever since he was hired on 30 Rock, Donald released his first full length album in 2011 under the pseudonym Childish Gambino, Camp. On Camp, Gambino embraced the abrasive, offensive, absurdist styles that were being popularized by Tyler, The Creator and Odd Future at the time. Gambino also includes some meaningful interludes about his never ending hunger for creativity that was born out of a need to feel noticed that was born out of his childhood experiences, a lot of experiences occurring at summer camp, hence the title.

This is honestly not one of my favorites, but it does have some super edgy, fun to memorize cuts on it like Bonfire. The raw talent was quite obviously there, but the album was severely inconsistent and unpolished. At times it was just to abrasive for it’s own good

Weirdo (2012)

In 2010, Comedy Central tapped Donald to do a 30 minute set. Glover, naturally, killed, his signature animation and ability to mix the intellectual with the absurd translates amazingly well to stand-up. He also has a spot on Tracy Morgan impression.

His set for Comedy Central went so well that he got his own 1 hour special, Weirdo in 2012 that you can currently watch on Netflix. I’ve seen upwards of 50 standup specials in my time, and this one is my favorite. I’m not just saying that as a Glover fan, in fact, this special is what made me a Glover fan.

Because the Internet (2013)

Because the Internet was Childish Gambinos sophomore effort that he released in 2013 to universally positive reviews from critics, and raving reviews from fans.

This album was infinitely more polished than Camp and it maintained Camps raw personal energy as well.

I love this album, the ballads are catchy, the rap tracks are energetic and exciting. Tracks to listen to are definitely “3005”, “Sweatpants”, and “The Worst Guys”.

Atlanta (2015)

Donald left Community in 2014 for personal reasons that have never really been specified. If I had to guess it was probably a creative direction issue. See, Glover was shedding his high energy persona at this point, and his creativity was starting to take a dark, deeply delicious turn.

Donald got his own sitcom in 2015, Atlanta is an absurd, dark, surreal show about a rapper named Alfred who is managed by his cousin Earn (Glovers character) and the challenges that come with chasing fame, as well as achieving it. Oh Alfred also has a friend names Darius whos portrayed by a hilarious Lakeith Stanfield. While this is one of the main themes, it is far from the only one.

Glover conceived the show, produces it, writes for it, and act in it, and it is so good, highly recommend.

Awaken, My Love (2016)

This is by FAR my favorite Childish Gambino album, and it’s not even close.

He went a whole new route with Awaken, My Love he finally ditched the loud mouth rap persona he had been trying to ditch in the mixtapes released after Because the Internet.

How does he finally, shed this once permeating persona, well Funkadelic apparently, but not just funkadelic really really good, nostalgic but contemporary funkadelic.

“Redbone” is probably my favorite song ever, “Me and Your Mama” and “Terrified” are up there too, “Have Some Love”, “Riot”, the list goes on and on, if you haven’t listened to this album yet, do it.

This Is America (2018)

In May of 2018, Childish Gambino released the Grammy record of the year, and song of our generation “This is America” to incredible acclaim and an unprecedented amount of views.

His subtle visuals provided meaningful commentary on important issues like racism, gun violence, the self involved nature and short attention span of modern pop culture.

He also plays on both his wacky and dark personas in the music video and it’s a truly beautiful performance.

If you haven’t seen this yet, watch it as soon as possible.

Summer Pack (2018)

Yes, he also does summer songs.

And yes, they’re better than the ones that you listen to, provided you don’t listen to Summer Pack.

Solo (2018)

In 2018, Glover was tapped to take over the legendary role of Lando Calrissian in the beloved Star Wars universe.

This was a perfect role for Glover, being both super suave, like Lando, and a mega nerd, like people who love Star Wars.

His breathtaking performance stole the show from what is otherwise a fairly inconsequential Star Wars movie.

Guava Island (2019)

I haven’t seen this yet, because its not yet widely available to watch, but you but your bottom dollar that I’m gonna.

I mean, it has Rihanna and Glover, how could it be bad?

Upcoming Projects and Others

Glover is likely to release an album this year (2019) so keep an eye out, it’s gonna be crazy

Glover is also providing the voice of Simba for the upcoming Lion King remake

This honestly barely scratches the surface of Glover’s career, so if you like what you have seen here, do yourself a favor and do some more searching for anything that he’s ever been in, cause you will not regret it.

Also, even if you didn’t watch any of the videos in this post, I highly suggest you listen to this.