Donald Glover Explains Why He’s Retiring Childish Gambino Moniker

The Childish Gambino chapter is coming to a close for Donald Glover. The final installment is set to arrive on Friday (July 19) with his Bando Stone & The New World album.

Glover sat down with The New York Times on Wednesday (July 17) ahead of the LP hitting streaming services later this week. The multi-hyphenate felt it was time to move on from the Childish Gambino moniker as it wasn’t “fulfilling” to him anymore.

“It really was just like, ‘Oh, it’s done.’ It’s not fulfilling,” Glover admitted. “And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore.”

Gambino isn’t holding back with his final act, which will serve as the soundtrack companion to the blockbuster of the same name. He doesn’t seem to have any regrets about moving forward.

“I think grace is undervalued in the world,” he added. “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.'”

The 40-year-old previewed his genre-blending album, which finds him embracing an array of influences, for an intimate audience with a listening experience curated on NYC’s Little Island earlier in July.

Bando Stone boasts a versatile lineup of guests including Jorja Smith, Yeat, Chloe Bailey, Steve Lacy, Flo Milli, Amaarae, Foushee and more. Glover’s son even makes an artistic cameo.

The album is Gambino’s fifth under the moniker and first since 2020’s 3.15.20, which received an update with the release of Atavista (3.15.20 reimagined versions) in May.

It’s a celebratory week for Donald Glover who picked up a pair of Primetime Emmy nominations on Wednesday for his role as John Smith in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

He’s nominated in the outstanding lead actor in a drama series and outstanding writing for a drama series categories. Glover previously won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for his work in his previous show, Atlanta.

Co-stars in the Amazon Prime Video series Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane released a statement reacting to the Emmy noms exclusively to Billboard.

“What is happening! Thank you to the Television Academy! We really weren’t expecting this, but damn did we put in some work — it’s not every day you get to make something with a bunch of your best friends and it’s definitely not every day that it then receives love this way,” they said.

The joint statement continues: “We want to do a quick shout out to the people who deserve some recognition  — Jen, Vernon, Kara, Carina, and the entire Amazon team for your unwavering support in making this our way, Michael Schaefer (the muscle), Yariv and New Regency, Anthony ‘I’ll never say no’ Katagas (you’re the man), Kaitlin (the glue), Fam (the secret sauce), Hiro (the visionary), Christian (the heart), Carmen Cuba (queen), Doug, Karena, Amy, Christina, Steve, Carla, Adamma, Adanne, Yvonne, Julia, Schuyler, Kyle, Isaac, Kate and especially Greg, Dave, Gerry, Ruth, Madeline, Blair, Cody, Stephen Murphy, Pope and his amazing team, Nathan, Rob, Eric, Glen, Emile, all of our ridiculously talented guest stars, the rest of the tirelessly committed cast and crew, including and especially to all of the PAs and assistants. And most importantly, thank you to Maya for your generosity and incomparable genius in being our Jane. We love you all!”

Catch the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards live on ABC on Sunday Sept. 15 (8:00-11:00 p.m. ET/5:00-8:00 p.m. PT) from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live.