This is the face of Childish Gambino. (Image thanks to www.inyourspeakers.com)
Look...so similar.
Donald Glover, writer, actor, comedian, rapper, has been making music under the alias of Childish Gambino for awhile now. If you've read this blog before you might recognize his face from some videos in a previous post. He's one of the bro rapists in the Bro Rape video, and also was (is? Hopefully.) a front man for Derrick Comedy.
He's written for 30 Rock, acts, in a main role, on the show Community, makes great music (remixes under the other guise 'mcDJ'), and is a comedian. I have nothing but respect for him and I've chosen Childish Gambino for my meditating.
Here are a couple of great tracks:
AND
Both rather different, both rather great.
The reason I chose Childish Gambino, Donald Glover, is because he is an embodiment of convergence, and because music, his specifically for this post, is fantastic.
I've been a fan of this guy before his name got out there, back when he was making the first Derrick videos. It's awesome to see he's making it big (it seems like he is, at least), and he's continued to prove that he deserves stardom.
Donald Glover's production techniques are, as he emboldens through his lyrics, different. His Childish Gambino songs usually use music from his alter persona, mcDJ, as a backdrop for his rapping. The music isn't what you might think would be the back beat to rapping, but it works. He has released mix tapes using other artists' songs, some that certainly don't lend themselves to the rap/hip-hop genre. Those songs are solid as well.
A lot of his lyrics seem to either make fun of or embrace a multi-faced 'rapper' persona. At times he will pour out his soul, which I've seen online described as "Donald Glover coming out through Childish Gambino", and at others he will be using strength in his words to bolster and enliven his ability to rap and live.
His album covers and titles seem to utilize nostalgia and symbols in their appeal to an audiences. For me at least, this album cover brings back memories:
(Image thanks to childishgambino)
This is from his upcoming EP release, so I can't say much about the content, but the picture captures some of the ideas behind Childish Gambino's work. I remember fall for the first time, not surprisingly as a child, and all of the memories from those child hood years where leaves of autumn were a new change each season, an incredibly exciting arrival.
Another album of his, Culdesac, reminds me of my childhood more because I grew up near, basically on, a culdesac. It's a corner stone of suburban living.
His lyrics will also, while being strong, occasionally play the race card. One line in a song goes, "I'm young and I'm black and the world is my oyster...."
He has chosen to mention that he's black, mention his race. And why not? It's a fact that certainly has been influential in the rap/hip-hop genre in the past.
As I said before, Donald Glover is the human manifest of the aesthetic shift. Technology has converged into platforms of great performance and ability. Donald Glover has followed suit. Expressing himself in not just one, or two, or three, but four mediums(!), he has spread his message fast and hot, reaching minds and dropping his thoughts on, to quote from the interview found below, "the spices of life."
Glover also has some interesting relations with the technological shift. From ANALOG to DIGITAL seems to have been an easy, maybe gradual, process for him. Derrick Comedy videos were on YouTube to start, so they had the DIGITAL ways captured early on. They, Derrick Comedy, were also a performing sketch troupe in New York City. They had a dual platform of expression, at least, and that helped get their names above the rest of countless YouTube uploaders.
Donald Glover has this dual-platform idea, but now it's a quadruple-platform of expression. Clearly it's been working for him. As he continues to put out his work, I will strive to enjoy it. Hats off to him!
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