DONALD GLOVER ANNOUNCES FINAL CHILDISH GAMBINO ALBUMS
The musician and actor is finally retiring his alter ego.
The Childish Gambino era is officially over. Donald Glover has confirmed he will release two final albums before retiring the moniker for good.
During a chat on the GILGA Radio livestream on Instagram, as reported by Variety, Glover revealed the first album will be entitled Atavista, a reworked version of his surprise record 3.15.20. This will be followed by the final Childish Gambino album that will serve as the soundtrack to his film Bando Storm and the New World.
“The project I put out, 3.15.20 that no one’s ever heard of, people didn’t even know I put it out, it was originally titled Atavista, it was supposed to be Atavista,” he said in the interview you can listen to in full here. “But we put it out quickly, I didn’t master or mix it, I just kind of put it out. I was going through a lot, n—s thought everybody was going to die because it was the pandemic. We put it out, we finished it, it’s Atavista, we’re putting that out. But then after that, there’s a Childish Gambino album, the final Childish Gambino album.”
The original version of 3.15.20 appeared on the Childish Gambino website on March 15, 2020, before it was pulled 12 hours later. The record was finally uploaded to streaming platforms on March 22, with the 12-track album featuring collaborations with Ariana Grande, 21 Savage, Ink and Kadhja Bonet. The chance to hear an updated and finished version of this album (now featuring only 11 tracks) is something many fans will be clamouring for.
As for the soundtrack that serves as the final Childish Gambino album, Glover mentioned during the GILGA Radio livestream that it’s influenced by other soundtracks, particularly Prince’s 1989 Batman album and the RZA-produced 1995 Batman Forever record.
The two albums will be the first taste of new music from Glover since the 2020 release of 3.15.20. The past four years have seen the ‘This Is America’ and ‘Redbone’ hitmaker concentrate on his acting career. As well as starring in and producing the final two seasons of Atlanta, Glover voiced Simba in The Lion King remake, lent his voice to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and starred in the hit Amazon series Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Atavista and Bando Storm and the New World are both set for release later this year.