Glover, Jr was born at Edwards Air Force Base, California and raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia. His mother, Beverly (Smith, is a retired daycare provider, and his father, Donald, Sr, is a retired postal worker. His parents also served as DeKalb County foster parents for 14 years. He was raised a Jehovah's Witness. He was voted "Most Likely to Write for The Simpsons" in his High School yearbook. Glover, Jr graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in dramatic writing in 2006.
From 2006 to 2009, Glover, Jr was a writer for the NBC series 30 Rock where he also had occasional cameo appearances. He was presented the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Series at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the third season. Glover, Jr's stage name, Childish Gambino, came from the Wu-Tang Clan's name generator. On June 5, 2008, he released an independent album, titled Sick Boi. Glover, Jr would then become a member of the sketch comedy group Derrick Comedy, along with Dominic Dierkes, Meggie McFadden, DC Pierson, and Dan Eckman. The group wrote and starred in a feature-length film, Mystery Team, released in theaters in 2009.
On September 17, 2009, Childish Gambino released the independent album Poindexter. A pair of mixtapes, titled I Am Just a Rapper and I Am Just A Rapper 2 were released, in close succession in 2010. Robert Scahill added his producing expertise helping with the majority of the tracks. The track listings for those mixtapes consist of the name of the song "he" raps, followed by the song he raps over. His second album, Culdesac, was set to be released on July 2, 2010, but a couple of last minute additions caused the album to be delayed for a day. The album was made available on July 3. Glover, Jr has stated in interviews that on Sick Boi and Poindexter he felt he had to hide behind gimmicks, such as pink hoodies, but with his subsequent projects, he has touched on more personal subject matter, including family, schoolyard bullying, troubled romantic relationships, suicidal thoughts and alcoholism. He has disowned his 2005 album, The Younger I Get, as the too-raw ramblings of what he calls a "decrepit."
Glover, Jr's stand-up special aired on Comedy Central on March 19, 2010. In May 2010, a fan suggested Glover, Jr for the role of Peter Parker in the then-upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man film, encouraging his supporters to retweet the hashtag "#donald4spiderman". The campaign, originally started to see how far social networking could carry a message, quickly gained a large following. The call for Glover to be allowed to audition for the role was supported by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee. Glover, Jr was not awarded an audition and the role instead went to Andrew Garfield. He would later reveal that he was never contacted by anyone from Sony Pictures for the role. Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, who announced an African-American version of Spider-Man a year later, said he had conceived of the character before Glover, Jr's campaign went viral. Bendis gave credit to Glover for influencing the new hero's looks for Spider-man after seeing him dressed as Spider-Man on Community (a nod to the campaign), Bendis said, "I saw him in the costume and thought, 'I would like to read that book.'" Glover, Jr would later voice this incarnation of Spider-Man on the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.
Glover, Jr received the Rising Comedy Star award at the Just for Laughs festival in July 2010. Glover, Jr was featured in Gap's 2010 Holiday ad campaign. He DJs and produces electronic music under the moniker "mcDJ" (pronounced "M-C-D-J"). His music is often made available for free download via his website.
On December 1, 2010, Glover, Jr released the first track off of his EP titled "Be Alone". He released the next track, "Freaks and Geeks", as well as a five-song track list, on February 11, 2011. On February 25, Glover, Jr released the dates for the IAMDONALD tour and also his very first music video for "Freaks and Geeks". The music video was shot by Dan Eckman, the director of the Derrick Comedy troupe. This song was later used in an Adidas commercial featuring Dwight Howard. On March 8, 2011 Glover, Jr released the EP via his official website.
On March 16, 2011, Glover, Jr hosted the mtvU Woodie Awards held live at South By Southwest. On March 24, 2011, Glover, Jr taped his one-hour comedy special Weirdo for Comedy Central; it aired on November 19.
Glover, Jr appeared at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival on June 9 in the 'This Tent' as Childish Gambino and June 11 at 'The Comedy Theater' with Bill Bailey performing stand up. Comedy Central streamed the comedy live on their website.
On May 4, 2011, in an interview with TheHipHopUpdate, Gambino revealed that he was working on an LP, to be released in September. On July 25, 2011, Glover, Jr announced that his new album would be titled Camp. On October 8, during his Orlando, Florida concert, he announced Camp would be released on November 15, 2011. Glover, Jr worked with friend and film composer Ludwig Göransson on the debut album. On August 20, 2011, at the Los Angeles Rock The Bells concert, he gave an interview to AllHipHop.com, and he announced to the crowd that he had signed with Glassnote Records. On September 20, his first official single, "Bonfire", was released.
The IAMDONALD tour made 24 stops in 34 days, beginning with Ames, Iowa, on April 16, and finishing with Minneapolis on May 19. In between, this included stops at music venues in Las Vegas, Houston, Washington, and Atlanta. The tour was a one-man live show that consisted of rap, comedy, and video segments.
The Sign-Up Tour was Glover, Jr's next pre-album tour. He visited 11 cities over the course of 38 days in October and November 2011. Chidlish G made a website for the tour called Camp Gambino on November 19, four days after his album released. The tour featured special guest Danny Brown and made 20 stops during the course of 32 days along a dates in California in December. On March 14, 2012, several dates on the CAMP tour were postponed due to a fractured foot Childish suffered on March 10, while performing in Tampa, Florida. The tour began in Austin, Texas on April 5 and ended August 10 in Hollywood, California.
On January 11, 2012, Childish Gambino announced on his website that a new mixtape would be coming out soon. On April 2, he released a new song, "Eat Your Vegetables", through his website. On May 14, Funkmaster Flex premiered "Unnecessary," featuring Schoolboy Q. On May 16, Gambino released "We Ain't Them" through his website, produced by himself and frequent collaborator Ludwig. On May 22, Glover, Jr appeared on Das Racist's radio show "Chillin' Island" where he premiered a new song, "Tell Me," which featured Himanshu Suri, aka Heems from Das Racist. On May 26, Glover released "Black Faces", featuring Nipsey Hussle and produced by Boi-1da. On May 30, he released a third track, "Silk Pillow," featuring Beck and produced by both Glover, Jr and Beck. On June 25, he revealed that the mixtape was to be released on July 4, 2012. On June 26, Glover, Jr premiered another new track, on Sway in the Morning (on Shade 45), entitled "One Up," featuring his brother, Steve G. Lover. That same day, he stated that the mixtape would be titled Royalty despite previous statements that it would not be called that. On July 4, 2012, he released Royalty for free via digital download. On July 7, 2012, Gambino released the track, "Body," featuring Prodigy, which did not make the cut for the mixtape. On July 24, 2012, he released the music video for "Fire Fly" through his VEVO account on YouTube.
On August 21, 2012, BBC Radio 1 premiered Leona Lewis' new song, "Trouble" off her upcoming album Glassheart, which features Childish Gambino. The song was available for purchase via iTunes on October 7, and peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart the following week, making it his first UK top 10 single. On November 4, 2012 Ludwig Göransson said in an interview with Portable that he and Gambino were in his studio coming up with new ideas for the next album which was to be "bigger" and "with more people involved."
In 2013, Glover, Jr signed on to create a music-themed show for FX titled Atlanta in which he will star, write, and executive produce. Consequently, he decided to reduce his work for NBC, and only appears in the first five episodes of Community's 13-episode fifth season. Although many TV stations were interested in picking up his half-hour comedy, he ultimately picked FX due to their willingness to work around his touring schedule.
On October 6, 2013, he announced on Twitter that his second studio album was completed. He further announced this at Homecoming Week at Penn State University, stating “I got a new album coming out soon, so this is the last time we’re gonna play a lot of this shit.” On October 8, 2013, he announced its title as Because the Internet and revealed that it would be released in December 2013. On October 21, 2013, Glover, Jr released the first single "3005", and announced a release date for the album as December 10, 2013. On February 15, 2014, the rapper launched his Deep Web Tour in the UK. On February 27, Childish Gambino was scheduled to begin the United States portion of his tour with a gig at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. On June 6, 2014, RIAA certified Heartbeat Gold - making it Glover's first certification, and then on July 18, 2014, RIAA also certified 3005 Gold, making it Glover's second certification.
On October 2, 2014, he released a new mixtape titled STN MTN, and the next day he released an EP titled Kauai. The mixtape and the EP follow the story that was last told in Because The Internet and are meant to be a joint project instead of separate projects.
On October 10, 2014, Ubisoft revealed that they had collaborated with Glover, Jr to incorporate his song, "Crawl" into Far Cry 4.
On December 5, 2014 Glover, Jr was nominated for two Grammy Awards. He was a contender for Best Rap Album for Because The Internet (Glassnote Records) and Best Rap Performance for his single, “3005.”
On March 21, 2015 Glover, Jr won an mtvU Woodies Award for Best Video Woodie for the song "Sober" from the Kauai EP.
As of February 2016, Because the Internet has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping over 500,000 copies.
Glover's third album, Awaken, My Love!, spawned the single "Redbone", which peaked at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually earned him his first Grammy Award. In 2018, Glover released "This Is America", which debuted at number-one on the Hot 100, and won four Grammy Awards, including for Song and Record of the Year.[13] Glover's fourth album, 3.15.20, was released in 2020.[14]
American Royalty {prod. Childish Gambino}
Childish Gambino Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
Mixtape demonstrations
This Oxycontin carbon monox'
And toxic concoction
Collapse your brain cells
They swell from lack of oxygen
Leave the opposition stuck
Hockin', spitting up blood
Shark by sharp precision
Dart incision, darkness imparts your vision
Sparks infliction (Poof) I'm a mad magician
Verbal plasma, verbal scatter
Words that shatter every atom in your body
Now you're anti matter
Ripping through the data
Checked into the doctor
Took his rhyme splatter
Cause my mind's faster
You falling down to ground
While I climb the ladder
Too much garbage in your gallbladder
Fall flatter on your face
Now you carry by the pall-bearer
Or wear the black suit, eyes all teared up
Oh no, when your ho make a boss lit up
We in the rib with a smirk nigga
All geared up
Childish Gambino or Bobby Digi'lino
On the tracks
We breaking more backs that Sammartino, Bruno
We saw more baselines than Juno
Change more law in New York than Mr cuomo
Godfather novels I write like Mario Puzo
Master time fix the clocks like I'm Hugo
Hold the weight like nine sumos
Bust shots like John Lugo
You know how the Wu go
Look sharp, homie give yourself a facelift
High brow, eyebrows on a spaceship
Take sips of that Ace of Spades-es
Saving all my money just to
Waste on a bracelet can't see them haters
We don't give a fuck though
Charge it to the game
Keep a lame so cutthroat
Never slip a fast one
The game is so in front of me
Travel 'round the globe
Spend and make 'bout a 100 G's
Pack them crowds up, boss like Bowser
Deep pocket poetry, my custom trousers
Thank God they found us
The game was starvin'
I'm clean and concrete, you ass and Charmin
Bobby Digital
Do you really think these niggas know shit?
Shopping in Manhattan and I ran
Into my old chick
Pride is a bitch, I am not a grown up
Tweetin' when I'm 70
These half-dead followers
She look like she Spelman
Secretly she Hofstra put her in the club
All she wanna hear is Waka
Put her in the crib
All she wanna hear is Waka
She jerk when I move like
Her old boy popped her
Home is that Outkast, soul like I'm Phonte
Old-school J's like Beyoncé's fiancé
Back on my dumb shit, nigga we the stupidest
Gave them niggas real shit
Don't know what to do with it
I did what I did man
Did you really see it though?
'Bino hard and fast, niggas Sweet'N Low
American Royalty, family loyalty
We cream of the crop why
The fuck would we stop?
She had two sons: both of 'em good grades
Both of 'em rap songs
Where did she go wrong?
Nowhere mama, we just go where the money at
Black Kennedy, where the fuck you niggas at
The lyrics to "American Royalty" by Childish Gambino feat. RZA and Hypnotic Brass Orchestra are complex and filled with wordplay. The song explores themes of fame, power, and the impact of technology. It begins by referencing Oxycontin and carbon monoxide, alluding to the toxic and addictive nature of fame and success in the entertainment industry.
The lyrics then paint a picture of a sharp and skilled wordsmith, capable of tearing apart opponents with precision and intellect. The metaphorical imagery of darkness imparting vision and verbal plasma scattering atoms in the body showcases the lyrical prowess of the artist. The lyrics also boast about the influence and impact the artist has had on the music scene, referencing their ability to change laws in New York and mentioning iconic figures like Mario Puzo and John Lugo.
The second verse discusses personal success and the lavish lifestyle that comes with it. The references to a facelift, expensive alcohol like Ace of Spades, and proudly charging expenses to the game demonstrate the artist's confidence and disregard for societal norms. The lyrics also touch on the fluidity of relationships, contrasting the singer's encounters with both an old flame from Manhattan and a new love interest who enjoys "Waka" music. The overall message of the song seems to be an assertion of the artist's status and a celebration of their achievements.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@omfugga
his mixtape is on his website
@MrOtmoney
GAMBINO IS A MASTERMIND BECAUSE HE GAVE RZA A LAME BEAT BUT GAMBINO GAVE HIMSELF A COL BEAT THEN HE SAID GIVE YOURSELF A FACELIFT
@Drangel94
The singing in the background reminds me of some of the old Sick Boi stuff.
@CheeksOfButt
You think that was a "lame beat" that shit was classy as fuck I'm actually disappointed Gambino didn't rhyme over it
@DougRaytis
How yall Get the name wrong tho? Its a Brass Ensemble, not no damn Orchestra