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]
II. Zealots Of Stockholm
Childish Gambino Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never had to lie no, no, no, no
We were coming down, they left us all alone
We're headed nowhere
I know you've been around
I feel you then and now, how are you?
Do you sleep? Are you with me?
We used to be unspoken
I'm a good son
You're a good son
You're a good son, ohh
You're a good son
Free information, free information
Free information, free information
Arlanda, hotel to the bar
Young girl with an accent with her back bent
Ass out to the whole world
We can vibe out for tonight
Stepping outside for a light
No coke, and I just smoke vapor, no papers
Slow poke and I don't know about photos
Let's go though
How old are you?
Saying that you never date older dudes
That's why I never wanna say no to you
The coldest dude to hold a groove with no kids
The coldest dude who can't hold his goose
I'ma walk out, wanna walk too?
What about dude? Fuck 'em
I just really wanna feel something
It took my like five minutes to figure out
Like where the voices memos were on the phone
But I figured it out
Is it real, 'cause you're online? (Free information, free information)
Is it real, 'cause you're online? (Free information, free information)
Is it real, 'cause you're online? (Free information, free information)
Is it real, 'cause you're online? (Free information, free information)
I'm a freaky bitch
I am 5 foot 8, 390
And I am a freaky bitch
Heathen
It's a struggle just to keep breathing
Existential asthmatic, puff, puff, pass addict
Craftmatic, making moves but they sleeping on me
We can kick it like it's FIFA, homie
Nevertheless, I got that fresh like it was Crest
Grind 'cause I'm stressed
TMJ or TMI, it's a lie that you're living
I never understood the hate on a nigga's preference
When every marriage is a same sex marriage
Same sex everyday, monotonous
Lost god never pray, forgotten us
Lost love, never say just like our parents
Too much power ain't enough power
Brain splattered like I've fallen off a Watchtower
Any anybody can walk into any Denny's
And wait until I'm walking in it with a gun that they 3D printed and I finish it
Kinison said if you gonna miss heaven
Why miss it by two inches?
Old money and new bitches (old money and new bitches)
Gettin' next level at a hotel
Ain't shit that we don't need nigga, oh well
The song II. Zealots of Stockholm by Childish Gambino is a 7-minute journey through various emotions and themes. The lyrics speak about coming down from something too soon, feeling alone and broken, and seeking connections in the digital age. The chorus repeats the phrase “Free information” several times, which seems to comment on the overwhelming amount of information available to us through the internet and how it affects our relationships and sense of self. The verses touch on topics like materialism, addiction, existentialism, and gun violence.
The first verse talks about how “they” said it was too soon to come down, perhaps referring to a drug-induced high or a moment of joy that was cut short. The lines “We used to be unspoken / Now everything is broken” highlight a sense of disconnect and disappointment, implying that something was lost between two people. The second verse mentions a girl who is looking for love but doesn’t want to date older men, and a character named Heathen who is struggling to breathe and is addicted to moving forward. The line “every marriage is a same sex marriage” could be seen as a comment on the equality of love and the limitations of labels and expectations.
The chorus repeats “Free information” multiple times, which could be interpreted as both a warning and a plea. On one hand, it acknowledges that we have more access to knowledge and data than ever before, but on the other hand, it suggests that this flood of information is affecting our ability to connect with each other in meaningful ways. The song ends with a nihilistic monologue about gun violence and the power struggles between old and new money, emphasizing the idea that there is no clear answer or solution to the struggles we face as a society.
Line by Line Meaning
When we were coming down they said it was too soon
People were telling them they were moving too quickly
I never had to lie no, no, no, no
The singer never had to lie to set boundaries
We were coming down, they left us all alone
They were left with no help when they needed it most
We're headed nowhere
They feel like they're going nowhere in life
I know you've been around
The artist knows the person they're talking to has experience
I feel you then and now, how are you?
The singer is asking how the other person is doing after all these years
Do you sleep? Are you with me?
They're wondering if the other person is still connected in some way
We used to be unspoken
They used to have an unspoken connection
Now everything is broken
Their connection is now broken and non-existent
I'm a good son
The artist is trying to remind themself that they've always been a good son
You're a good son
The singer is also acknowledging that the other person is a good son
Free information, free information
The artist is commenting on society's obsession with free information
Arlanda, hotel to the bar
The singer is reminiscing on a trip to the bar
Young girl with an accent with her back bent
The singer is describing someone they saw at the bar
Ass out to the whole world
The girl had her butt showing for everyone to see
We can vibe out for tonight
They're suggesting that they hang out for the night
Stepping outside for a light
They're going outside to smoke a cigarette
No coke, and I just smoke vapor, no papers
The singer is saying they don't do cocaine and instead smoke an electronic cigarette
Slow poke and I don't know about photos
They're admitting they're slow and don't know much about taking photos
How old are you?
The artist is asking how old the girl is
Saying that you never date older dudes
The girl is saying she doesn't date older men
That's why I never wanna say no to you
The artist is saying they don't want to reject the girl
The coldest dude to hold a groove with no kids
The singer is commenting on their single lifestyle
The coldest dude who can't hold his goose
The artist is acknowledging their faults
I'ma walk out, wanna walk too?
The singer is suggesting that they leave together
What about dude? Fuck 'em
The singer doesn't care about someone else's opinion
I just really wanna feel something
The singer is seeking a connection with someone
It took my like five minutes to figure out
The artist is commenting on the difficulty of figuring something out
Like where the voices memos were on the phone
The artist is trying to locate a specific feature on their phone
Is it real, 'cause you're online? (Free information, free information)
The singer is questioning the authenticity of online connections
I'm a freaky bitch
The singer is expressing their sexual preferences
Heathen
The artist is addressing themselves as an outsider
It's a struggle just to keep breathing
The artist is struggling to cope with the difficulties in life
Existential asthmatic, puff, puff, pass addict
The artist is describing themselves as someone who smokes marijuana to cope with their mental state
Craftmatic, making moves but they sleeping on me
The singer is saying that they're making moves but not getting the recognition they deserve
We can kick it like it's FIFA, homie
The artist is suggesting that they hang out and play video games together
Nevertheless, I got that fresh like it was Crest
The singer is saying they have a fresh style, like the toothpaste brand Crest
Grind 'cause I'm stressed
The singer is grinding and working hard because of their stress
TMJ or TMI, it's a lie that you're living
The singer is commenting on how people lie about what they're really going through
I never understood the hate on a nigga's preference
The artist is commenting on the discrimination some people face based on their preferences
When every marriage is a same sex marriage
The artist is saying that marriages all have the same struggles and realities
Same sex everyday, monotonous
The singer is saying that relationships can become monotonous, regardless of sexuality
Lost god never pray, forgotten us
The singer is feeling lost and forgotten by a higher power
Lost love, never say just like our parents
The artist is saying that their parents didn't communicate well and neither do they
Too much power ain't enough power
The artist is commenting on those in power never feeling like they have enough
Brain splattered like I've fallen off a Watchtower
The artist is feeling like their mind is a mess
Any anybody can walk into any Denny's
The singer is saying that anyone could commit a violent act even in a seemingly safe place
And wait until I'm walking in it with a gun that they 3D printed and I finish it
The artist is expressing their fear of someone harming them, even with a 3D-printed weapon
Kinison said if you gonna miss heaven
The singer is referencing comedian Sam Kinison
Why miss it by two inches?
The singer is questioning why someone would miss out on something so important by a small margin
Old money and new bitches (old money and new bitches)
The singer is commenting on the cycle of people being obsessed with money and new partners
Gettin' next level at a hotel
The artist is suggesting that they're taking their experience to the next level
Ain't shit that we don't need nigga, oh well
The artist is saying that they don't need anything else and are content with what they have
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Ludwig Emil Tomas Goransson, Stephen Ponce, Donald Mckinley Glover
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Vishwanath Ji
on This Is America
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