After hitting 40, with three young sons, Primetime Emmy nominations, a Lando Calrissian movie to get moving on and six albumsunder the monicker Childish Gambino, (the latest Bando Stone & The New World out now which is the soundtrack to his first directorial effort) Donald Glover has decided to retire the name, and explained why with Hot Ones.
“I always knew like Childish Gambino was like a character, on some level I wanted it to end,” Glover told host Sean Evans. “I feel like the Childish Gambino character is almost like the boss from The Office. It’s like yeah, that worked 10 years ago…It’s like oh, it’s a little sad but it’s also like wow, the cycle kind of continues which is great I think.”
He went into more depth with the New York Times.
“It really was just like, ‘Oh, it’s done.’ It’s not fulfilling, and I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore.”
“I’m not 25 anymore, standing in front of a boulder like, ‘This has to move. You give what you can, but there’s beauty everywhere in every moment. You don’t have to build it. You don’t have to search for it.”
“Success to me is, honestly, being able to put out a wide-scale album that I would listen to. For this album I really wanted to be able to play big rooms and have big, anthemic songs that fill those rooms, so that people feel a sense of togetherness.”
“I think grace is undervalued in the world.. When I put my son on my shoulders, I feel deep joy. That’s real, No one on their deathbed is going to look back and say, ‘Thank God I avoided being cringe.'”
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