Donald Glover on Walking Away From Childish Gambino Moniker: 'It’s Not Fulfilling'
The Gambino moniker, or "character" as Glover has described it, enters his final act with this Friday's 'Bando Stone' album.
13 years after Camp, the debut Childish Gambino studio album, Donald Glover is walking away from the moniker under which he’s released Grammy-winning singles "Redbone" and "This Is America."
In a recent interview with Reggie Ugwu, Glover, whose final Gambino album is out this Friday, spoke candidly about the moment he realized it was time to move on from the name. As the Emmy-nominated Mr. & Mrs. Smith actor explained, both age and a shift in how he views the very idea of artistic success played pivotal roles in his arriving at this headlines-generating decision.
"It really was just like, 'Oh, it’s done,'" the Atlanta star and creator told the New York Times in a feature published on Wednesday. "It’s not fulfilling. And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore."
Prior to becoming an RCA artist, Glover said he experienced frustrations when it came to how Glassnote chose to promote his albums. This period in the Gambino trajectory gave Glover "stress dreams," something it sounds like he handily avoids these days. Noting that he’s "not 25 anymore," Glover shared a reminder that beauty can be found "everywhere in every moment," adding that finding it doesn’t require a search or making something new.
It sounds like the larger story around Bando Stone & the New World, which is both the title of a new Glover film and the final Gambino album, is also dealing with the more existential side of an artist’s life, particularly when in the throes of making work of which they’re particularly proud. The pride, though indeed well-earned, can also be coupled with a question mark, of sorts, particularly when the world you’re unleashing it into often seems on the verge of cataclysm.
Gambino’s end also came up during Glover’s appearance on this week’s episode of Hot Ones. Early into the 23-minute episode, Glover stated that he "always knew Childish Gambino was a character," pointing out that, "on some level" at least, he "wanted it to end." This comes amid a larger conversation some listeners and journalists have been having in the run-up to Bando Stone, with Elliott Wilson, specifically, making Gambino's work a key talking point during a recent Bigger Picture discussion.
The Gambino farewell continues post-Bando Stone with the upcoming New World Tour, which is slated to begin next month in Oklahoma City.
