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Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover , also known by his
stage name Childish Gambino, is an American actor, writer, comedian, and rapper. He first
came to attention for his work with Derrick Comedy and subsequently became a writer for
the NBC comedy series 30 Rock. He is perhaps best known for his role as college student
Troy Barnes on the NBC series Community, as well as for his rising careers as a stand-up
comedian and rapper. In 2011, Glover signed to Glassnote Records,
where he releases music under his Childish Gambino moniker. After several self-released
albums and mixtapes, he released Camp, his first album for the label, on November 15,
2011. His second studio album, Because the Internet, was released on December 10, 2013.
Early life Glover was born in Edwards Air Force Base,
California and raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia. His father is a retired postal worker and
his mother is a retired daycare provider. His parents were also foster parents and Jehovah's
Witnesses. Glover graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with
a degree in dramatic writing in 2006, after attending DeKalb School of the Arts and Lakeside
High School. Career
2006–2010: Acting and music debut Glover is known for his work on the NBC show
Community. From 2006 to 2009, Glover was a writer for the NBC series 30 Rock where he
also had an occasional cameo appearance. He was presented the Writers Guild of America
Award for Best Comedy Series at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the third season
of 30 Rock. Glover performs music under the stage name
Childish Gambino, a name he found from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator. He released an independent
album entitled Sick Boi on June 5, 2008. Glover is a member of the sketch comedy group
Derrick Comedy, along with Dominic Dierkes, Meggie McFadden, DC Pierson, and Dan Eckman.
Derrick's YouTube videos gained the group nationwide attention and have contributed
to Donald Glover's recognition, as well as his newfound success in the television business.
The group wrote and starred in a feature-length film, Mystery Team, released in theaters in
2009. On September 17, 2009, Childish Gambino released the independent album Poindexter.
A pair of mixtapes entitled I Am Just a Rapper, and I Am Just A Rapper 2 were released in
close succession in early 2010. Robert Scahill added his producing expertise helping with
the majority of the tracks. The track listings for those albums consist of the name of the
song "he" raps, followed by the song he raps over. His third album, Culdesac, was set to
be released on July 2, 2010, but a couple of last minute additions caused the album
to be delayed for a day. The album was made available on July 3. Glover has stated in
interviews that on Sick Boi and Poindexter he felt he had to hide behind gimmicks, such
as pink hoodies, but with his subsequent projects, he has touched on more personal subject matter,
including family, schoolyard bullying, troubled romantic relationships, suicidal thoughts
and alcoholism. He has disowned his 2005 album, The Younger I Get, as the too-raw ramblings
of what he calls a "decrepit Drake." Glover's stand-up special aired on Comedy
Central on March 19, 2010. In May 2010, a fan suggested Glover for the role of Peter
Parker in the then-upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man film, encouraging his supporters to retweet
the hashtag "#donald4spiderman". The campaign, originally started to see how far social networking
could carry a message, quickly gained a large following. The call for Glover to be allowed
to audition for the role was supported by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee. Comics writer
Brian Michael Bendis, who announced an African-American version of Spider-Man a year later, said he
had conceived of the character before Glover's campaign went viral. Bendis gave credit to
Glover for influencing the new hero's looks; on seeing him dressed as Spider-Man on Community
(a nod to the campaign) Bendis said, "I saw him in the costume and thought, 'I would like
to read that book.'". Glover received the Rising Comedy Star award
at the Just for Laughs festival in July 2010. Glover was featured in Gap's 2010 Holiday
ad campaign. Donald Glover DJs and produces his own music under the moniker "mcDJ" (pronounced
"M-C-D-J"). His music is of the electronic/remix variety and is often made available for free
download via his official site. His current album releases include Love Letter in an Unbreakable
Bottle and Utterances of the Heart. On December 1, 2010, Glover released the first
track off of his EP titled "Be Alone". He released the next track, "Freaks and Geeks",
as well as a five-song track list, on February 11, 2011. On February 25, Donald released
the dates for the IAMDONALD tour and also his very first music video for "Freaks and
Geeks". The music video was shot by Dan Eckman, the director of the Derrick Comedy troupe.
This song would later be used in an Adidas commercial featuring Dwight Howard which brought
the song, and Donald, more recognition. On March 8, 2011 Donald released his newest EP
via his official website. 2011–2012: Camp
On March 16, 2011, Glover hosted the mtvU Woodie Awards held live at South By Southwest.
On March 24, 2011, Glover taped his one hour comedy special Weirdo for Comedy Central;
it aired on November 19. Donald appeared at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival on June 9
in the 'This Tent' as Childish Gambino and June 11 at 'The Comedy Theater' with Bill
Bailey performing stand up. Comedy Central streamed the comedy live on their website.
On May 4, 2011, in an interview with TheHipHopUpdate, Glover revealed that he was working on an
LP, to be released in September. On July 25, 2011, Donald Glover announced that his new
album would be entitled Camp. On October 8, during his Orlando concert, he announced Camp
would be released on November 15, 2011. On August 20, 2011, at the Los Angeles Rock The
Bells concert, he gave an interview to AllHipHop.com, and announced to the crowd that he had signed
with Glassnote Records. On September 20, he released his first official single, "Bonfire".
The IAMDONALD tour made 23 stops in 33 days, beginning with Ames, IA on April 16, and finishing
with Minneapolis, MN on May 19. In between, this included stops at music venues in Las
Vegas, Houston, Washington, and Atlanta. The Sign-Up Tour was Donald's next pre-album tour.
He visited 11 cities over the course of 38 days in October and November 2011. Glover
made a website for the tour called "Camp Gambino" on November 19, four days after his album
released. The tour featured special guest Danny Brown and made 20 stops during the course
of 32 days along a dates in California in December. On March 14, 2012, several dates
on the CAMP tour were postponed due to a fractured foot Donald Glover suffered on March 10, while
performing in Tampa, Florida. The tour began in Austin, Texas on April 5 and ended August
10 in Hollywood, California. On January 11, 2012, Childish Gambino announced
on his website that a new mixtape would be coming out soon. On April 2, he released a
new song, "Eat Your Vegetables and Fruits", through his website. On May 14, Funkmaster
Flex premiered "Unnecessary", featuring Schoolboy Q. On May 16, Gambino released "We Ain't Them"
through his website, produced by himself and frequent collaborator Ludwig. On May 22, Donald
appeared on Das Racist's radio show "Chillin' Island" where he premiered a new song, "Tell
Me", which featured Himanshu Suri, aka Heems from Das Racist. On May 26, Donald released
"Black Faces", featuring Nipsey Hussle and produced by Boi-1da. On May 30, he released
a third track, "Silk Pillow", featuring Beck and produced by both Glover and Beck. On June
25, Glover revealed that the mixtape was to be released on July 4, 2012. On June 26, Donald
premiered another new track, on Sway in the Morning (on Shade 45), entitled "One Up",
featuring his brother, Steve G. Lover. That same day, Donald stated that the mixtape would
be titled Royalty (despite previous statements that it would not be called that). On July
4, 2012, Glover released Royalty for free via digital download. On July 7, 2012, Gambino
released the track, "Body", featuring Prodigy, which did not make the cut for the mixtape.
On July 24, 2012, he released the music video for "Fire Fly" through his VEVO account on
YouTube. On August 21, 2012, BBC Radio 1 premiered
Leona Lewis' new song, "Trouble", off her upcoming album, Glassheart, which features
Childish Gambino. The song was available for purchase via iTunes on October 7, and peaked
at #7 on the UK Singles Chart the following week, making it his first UK top 10 single.
On November 4, 2012 Ludwig Göransson said in an interview with Portable that he and
Donald were in his studio coming up with new ideas for his next studio album. It was said
to be a bigger album, with more people involved. 2013–present: Because the Internet
In 2013, Glover signed on to create a music-themed show for FX titled Atlanta in which he will
star, write, and executive produce. Consequently, Glover has decided to reduce his work for
NBC, and plans to appear in only five of Community's 13 episode fifth season. Although many TV
stations were interested in picking up his half-hour comedy, he ultimately picked FX
due to their willingness to work around his touring schedule.
On October 4, 2013, Glover announced on Twitter that his second studio album was completed.
He further announced this at Homecoming Week at Penn State, stating “I got a new album
coming out soon, so this is the last time we’re gonna play a lot of this ***.”
On October 8, 2013, he announced its title as Because the Internet and revealed that
it would be released in December 2013. On October 21, 2013, Glover released the first
single "3005", and announced a release date for the album as December 10, 2013.
Discography Camp (2011)
Because the Internet (2013) Filmography
Web Awards