Donald Glover on whether Childish Gambino is retired
Donald Glover spoke about whether or not his musical alter ego Childish Gambino is retired during an interview at the Golden Globes 2023.
The star attended the Los Angeles award ceremony last night (January 10), where he was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy TV series for Atlanta.
In an interview with Laverne Cox on the red carpet, Glover was asked if he was working on new music after the end of Atlanta. “I’m making music right now,” he replied. “I love it. I’m in the studio, I’ve been bringing people in, secret people, and working on things.
“But I’m just making it for fun right now. But soon, something will happen I promise. Something will happen.”
Cox then clarified if the music would be released under the Childish Gambino moniker, noting that she had heard the name had been retired. “No, no, no, that was out in the ethos,” Glover said. “You don’t have to worry about that. He’ll be back.”
Glover told fans during a performance at New York’s Governors Ball festival in 2017: “I’ll see you for the last Gambino album.” In an interview shortly afterwards, he explained his decision, saying: “There’s nothing worst than like a third sequel, like a third movie and we’re like, ‘again?’ You know, I like it when something’s good and when it comes back there’s a reason to come back, there’s a reason to do that.”
At the 2018 Grammys, he doubled down on the announcement, telling reporters backstage: “I stand by that. I’m really appreciative of this [Grammy]. I’m making another project right now. But I like endings, I think they’re important to progress.”
However, in 2019, he backtracked on the decision slightly. “I think I’m still going to do shows. I’m not quite sure,” he said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “I really love making music.”
In March 2022, he visited the TV show again with another update on new music. “I’m making a lot of music,” he said. “I really love doing it; I’ve made a bunch of it. It’s just really about how to experience it at this point.”
Glover’s last full release as Childish Gambino arrived in 2020 with the album ‘3.15.20’. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “The impressive ‘3.15.20’ is well worth the wait — we’ll keep our fingers firmly crossed, then, that he doesn’t give in to his past evasiveness and take the record down again.”
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Rhian Daly
NME
