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]
centipede
Childish Gambino Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mm mm mm
Doo doo doo da da da dum dum beh
Oh, eh, oh
Lost all of our woe
We lost all of our whoa-oh, sad love songs
Hey centipede, centipede, centipede, centipede, centipede...
Oh, eh, oh
Lost all of our woe
We lost all of our whoa-oh, sad love songs
Hey centipede, centipede, centipede...
[Verse:]
'Bino, will you be my baby daddy, yup
I'm too fresh, man, the world ain't never had me, yup
I'm too fresh, man, y'all ain't never gave me that
Stone Mountain, ain't no doubting, and these niggas won't hold me back
They wasn't hating him anyway
My roommate exercise, man, he moving that heavyweight
My girl ain't down to ride, couldn't deal with my day to day
I'm at my Grandma's house, man, like I don't know what to say
Maybe "I'm sorry" but sorry don't pay the rent
I promise to pay you back
And I don't know where he at
But tell him he missing out
His grandson is cool as fuck
And tell me who be standing when them other ones giving up?
Let's keep it spontaneous, I don't need that rehearsal
More flow, man, than Progressive commercials
Get with the program, cause the plus loan that they putting us on
I got month long before I take the bus home.
[Hook:]
[Verse 2:]
I know this music shit ain't shit
And all these random niggas in my house make you anxious
And I ain't never told you that our love would be painless
But I was so in love with you I thought we could make it
Damn, I wasn't in it
Damn, we wasn't finished
Damn, I got us tickets
Damn, we went to Venice
Prioritize on our lives and made you into a business
That's why you wasn't surprised when I had made my decision
Gotta make it, cause if not I'm a failure, my wallet Azalea
And my brother still moving, ain't no shit I can tell him
Trying to keep him out of trouble, but the cops is wilding
It's nice to have a felon when the boys get violent
The Mexicans tried to jump me at the club
Funny thing was I thought they were stepping to show me love
Grandma's couch, my biggest fear and fantasy
When I ain't in her arms all I'm making is enemies
Here I'm screaming obscenities at a nigga
Wanted to live bigger than me
Them Etowah projects was eatin' our concept
If anyone walking out, what is you talking about?
Gun Hill Road made them summers feel cold
On the same train that my parents met on
Twenty years later and my pops still ghetto
High off of pressure, man, that's a stiletto
Got your own couch now but you don't feel better
[Hook:]
Cos if not, I'm a failure
Cos if not, I'm a failure
Cos if not, I'm a failure
[Outro:]
"It's not an unholy nigga, it's a Arab nigga in the store. You know what he want? Money, nigga. You know what your bitch want, you know why they feel they can't fuck with you? Cos you don't have no money, my nigga. Bitches do not want a nigga with no money. Did you not learn this in Harlem? Lesson number one. You can't keep saying you a Harlem nigga and you don't want that skrilla, nigga. Come on B, it's home of the hustlers, nigga. That's all you gotta understand. It's the hood nigga. It's make guap or die, nigga."
"School him."
"What do you think? Cos he gotta know, my nigga. Money is not equal, nigga. Go tell them niggas in Polo you don't wanna make no money, nigga. What they gon' say, "Oh, he right"? Hell no, nigga. You think niggas like selling crack and shit nigga? You think niggas like putting crack in they ass nigga, and selling cracks out they ass? You think niggas like shooting niggas, my nigga? You think niggas like tucking packs? You think niggas like baggin up? You know how boring baggin' is, my nigga? It's so boring, my nigga. There is no underground, Joe Budden is on his fourth mixtape selling shit. The underground is hot. There is no underground nigga. You don't see Raekwon or none of these niggas on the block. There's no more block, nigga, it's over for the block. You ask any nigga on the block, do they wanna be on the block? They gon' say no, nigga. Get your money, man. Stop trying to be gooned out.
"Hood niggas don't want to be—"
"Hood niggas don't want to be hood niggas, my nigga. Everything niggas do, everything niggas do is for money, my nigga. What's one thing that niggas do in the hood that isn't for money? What bitch would want a nigga with no money? Huh? Huh! ? Yo, slime! It's your time."
The lyrics to Childish Gambino's song "Centipede" explore issues of love, family, and the pursuit of success in life. The song is set to a minimalist beat and features Gambino's distinctive vocal style, which shifts between singing and rapping throughout. The opening acapella intro sets the tone for the song, with Gambino singing softly and slowly over a somber chord progression. He repeats the phrase "lost all of our woe," suggesting a sense of loss or despair, before launching into the main hook, "Hey centipede." The metaphor of the centipede represents a struggle or challenge that one must face in order to move forward in life.
In the first verse, Gambino addresses a variety of personal issues, including his relationship with his girlfriend, his struggles with money, and his attempts to find success in the world of music. He uses his trademark wit and wordplay to explore these issues, at times slipping into a stream-of-consciousness style of writing that reflects the chaotic nature of modern life. The second verse focuses on the realities of life in the hood, with Gambino reflecting on the difficulties faced by young black men trying to make their way in the world. He also touches on issues of race and identity, noting that his father is still "ghetto" even after many years of living in America.
Overall, "Centipede" is an introspective and honest song that showcases the range of Gambino's talents as both a rapper and a singer. The lyrics touch on a variety of themes, including love, loss, money, and race, all while maintaining a sense of humor and self-awareness.
Line by Line Meaning
Mm mm mm
Vocal intro
Doo doo doo da da da dum dum beh
Vocal intro
Oh, eh, oh
Hook - expressing lost hope and sadness
Lost all of our woe
Hook - expressing lost hope and sadness
We lost all of our whoa-oh, sad love songs
Hook - expressing lost hope and sadness
Hey centipede, centipede, centipede, centipede, centipede...
Repetition for emphasis
'Bino, will you be my baby daddy, yup
Asking for support and commitment
I'm too fresh, man, the world ain't never had me, yup
Confidence and self-assurance
I'm too fresh, man, y'all ain't never gave me that
Feeling unrecognized and undervalued
Stone Mountain, ain't no doubting, and these niggas won't hold me back
Pride in hometown, distrust of others
They wasn't hating him anyway
Unsure of others' motives
My roommate exercise, man, he moving that heavyweight
Commenting on roommate's physical strength
My girl ain't down to ride, couldn't deal with my day to day
Relationship struggles
I'm at my Grandma's house, man, like I don't know what to say
Feeling lost or unsure
Maybe "I'm sorry" but sorry don't pay the rent
Reflecting on financial responsibilities
I promise to pay you back
Making a promise to family
And I don't know where he at
Lack of information on someone
But tell him he missing out
Expressing importance and value of oneself
His grandson is cool as fuck
Pride in grandfather status
And tell me who be standing when them other ones giving up?
Suggesting personal resilience and strength
Let's keep it spontaneous, I don't need that rehearsal
Desire for natural, unscripted experiences
More flow, man, than Progressive commercials
Confidence in rapping ability
Get with the program, cause the plus loan that they putting us on
Commenting on student loans
I got month long before I take the bus home.
Commenting on financial difficulties and struggle
I know this music shit ain't shit
Doubts about success in music industry
And all these random niggas in my house make you anxious
Commenting on social anxiety
And I ain't never told you that our love would be painless
Acknowledging difficulties in romantic relationship
But I was so in love with you I thought we could make it
Expressing love and hope
Damn, I wasn't in it
Realization of lack of commitment
Damn, we wasn't finished
Feeling unfinished or incomplete
Damn, I got us tickets
Personal responsibility for relationship troubles
Damn, we went to Venice
Reference to romantic trip
Prioritize on our lives and made you into a business
Turning personal relationship into professional business
That's why you wasn't surprised when I had made my decision
Absence of surprise from partner
Gotta make it, cause if not I'm a failure, my wallet Azalea
Pressure to succeed financially, reference to Iggy Azalea
And my brother still moving, ain't no shit I can tell him
Feeling powerless to help family member
Trying to keep him out of trouble, but the cops is wilding
Fear of law enforcement, desire to keep loved ones safe
It's nice to have a felon when the boys get violent
Commenting on street knowledge and protection
The Mexicans tried to jump me at the club
Personal encounter with violence or conflict
Funny thing was I thought they were stepping to show me love
Misunderstanding or misinterpretation of situation
Grandma's couch, my biggest fear and fantasy
Personal struggles with home life
When I ain't in her arms all I'm making is enemies
Feeling of misfortune or struggle
Here I'm screaming obscenities at a nigga
Personal reaction to stress or anger
Wanted to live bigger than me
Desire for success or accomplishment
Them Etowah projects was eatin' our concept
Commenting on loss of opportunity or disadvantage
If anyone walking out, what is you talking about?
Skepticism or confusion about situation
Gun Hill Road made them summers feel cold
Emotional memory or experience
On the same train that my parents met on
Personal family history or connection
Twenty years later and my pops still ghetto
Commenting on societal struggle or circumstance
High off of pressure, man, that's a stiletto
Feeling of stress or anxiety
Got your own couch now but you don't feel better
Commenting on personal struggle or dissatisfaction
Cos if not, I'm a failure
Repetition for emphasis - fear of failure
Cos if not, I'm a failure
Repetition for emphasis - fear of failure
Cos if not, I'm a failure
Repetition for emphasis - fear of failure
"It's not an unholy nigga, it's a Arab nigga in the store. You know what he want? Money, nigga. You know what your bitch want, you know why they feel they can't fuck with you? Cos you don't have no money, my nigga. Bitches do not want a nigga with no money. Did you not learn this in Harlem? Lesson number one. You can't keep saying you a Harlem nigga and you don't want that skrilla, nigga. Come on B, it's home of the hustlers, nigga. That's all you gotta understand. It's the hood nigga. It's make guap or die, nigga."
"School him."
"What do you think? Cos he gotta know, my nigga. Money is not equal, nigga. Go tell them niggas in Polo you don't wanna make no money, nigga. What they gon' say, "Oh, he right"? Hell no, nigga. You think niggas like selling crack and shit nigga? You think niggas like putting crack in they ass nigga, and selling cracks out they ass? You think niggas like shooting niggas, my nigga? You think niggas like tucking packs? You know how boring baggin' is, my nigga? It's so boring, my nigga. There is no underground, Joe Budden is on his fourth mixtape selling shit. The underground is hot. There is no underground nigga. You don't see Raekwon or none of these niggas on the block. There's no more block, nigga, it's over for the block. You ask any nigga on the block, do they wanna be on the block? They gon' say no, nigga. Get your money, man. Stop trying to be gooned out.
"Hood niggas don't want to be—"
"Hood niggas don't want to be hood niggas, my nigga. Everything niggas do, everything niggas do is for money, my nigga. What's one thing that niggas do in the hood that isn't for money? What bitch would want a nigga with no money? Huh? Huh! ? Yo, slime! It's your time."
Outro - reference to societal pressure and personal experience with poverty
Contributed by Adam H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Júlio Soares
Some people really don't like the intro here? I listen to this song mostly because of the intro
Manuel Rivera
same bro
flamingstal
It’s not bad personally I don’t think it fits the vibe of the rest of the song
right like those first piano notes after the intro .... Woooooo!!!
Jayda Witcher
This song is so underrated still listening in 2020😣💕
@Brittany Carroll Right here with you in 2022 !!
Brittany Carroll
2022
dave fierro
2021
Ben Brown
I don't see what wrong with the intro I love it . It warms you up for the hole song
Christopher Moore
put this on Spotify, childish.