Evolution of Childish Gambino pic.twitter.com/DG9veXpjxF
— Nathan Zed (@NathanZed) December 2, 2016
“Rappers don’t want to be rappers. They’re usually artists who want to do a bunch of stuff. I don’t think any rapper wants to be just a rapper.” That was Donald Glover on The Arsenio Hall Show in 2013, when he was known more for comedy than rapping. After all, Glover was “That guy from Community,” or “That guy from Derrick Comedy,” or, worst of all, “that guy from the brutal Pitchfork review.”
It’s easy to dismiss an artist who’s so good at everything, opinions from Pitchfork aside, as someone who can’t excel at anything. Since then, though, that perception has changed — Glover is now “That guy who created one of 2016’s best shows, who elevated every scene he was in Magic Mike XXL and The Martian, and who, after the release of Because The Internet and especially last week’s “Awaken, My Love!”, demands to be taken seriously.”
It’s been a remarkable career for multi-industry powerhouse Glover, who’s accomplished so much — viral fame, 30 Rock writer, Community star, Atlanta creator, playing freaking Lando Calrissian in the Han Solo spinoff movie, teaching clueless white people they don’t know as much about black culture as they think they do — before even turning 35.
That’s to say nothing of his Grammy-nominated music career, which has come a long way since he was freestyling over AC/DC in an NYU dorm. Twitter user Nathan Zed chronicled his ride in a video appropriately titled “Evolution of Childish Gambino,” which you can watch above.
Hopefully, despite all this, Glover hasn’t forgotten his B-boy roots, though.
