At the 2017 Golden Globe awards there were five shows nominated to win Best Comedy or Musical TV Series. They were Veep, Black-ish, Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, and FX’s Atlanta.
When it was announced that Atlanta won the coveted Golden Globe award, 33-year-old show creator and lead actor Donald Glover accepted the award with the cast behind him.
“I really just want to thank Atlanta and all the black folks in Atlanta. Just for being alive and being amazing people. I couldn’t be here without Atlanta,” Glover said. “I really wanna thank the Migos, not for being in the show, but for making “Bad and Boujee.” That’s the best song ever.”
Glover’s acceptance speech taps directly into the heart of African-American culture in front of a majority white American audience and is indicative of a new Black Renaissance era in the entertainment industry, and Glover, also known under his rap name as Childish Gambino, is quickly solidifying his place as the renaissance man of entertainment today.
Born on an Air Force base in California and raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia by a retired postal worker and a daycare provider, Glover attended magnet school at the DeKalb Center for Performing Arts and studied dramatic writing at prestigious New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Glover made his name in entertainment when he was recruited by Tina Fey to write for NBC’s 30 Rock while he was only 22 years old.
“He was actually still, I believe, living in an NYU dorm,” Tina Fey said in an 2012 interview for Entertainment Weekly. “He was an RA, and he would work and go home to a dorm.”
30 Rock became one of the most critically acclaimed primetime television comedies of all time, garnering 90 Emmy award nominations and other accolades. Glover also starred in another NBC comedy, Community, which became extremely popular and received critical acclaim.
Writing, acting, and producing isn’t the only things that Glover does well. Under the name Childish Gambino, a stage name he reportedly chose from a Wu-Tang name generator, Glover developed a successful music career as a rapper and singer. His sophomore album Because the Internet was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 57th annual Grammy Awards and peaked at #1 in the Top Rap Album of the Billboard charts.
His most recent release Awaken, My Love! Glover goes full R&B, utilizing funk and psychedelic soul. It debuted in the #2 spot of the Billboard charts with one of his lead singles, “Redbone” peaking at #1 on the R&B charts.
While Glover recently announced he is retiring as Childish Gambino, fans patiently await his next projects. This summer he has joined an all-star cast in the blockbuster Spider-man: Homecoming. Atlanta’s second season has been put on hold because Glover is starring as a young Lando Calrissan in the upcoming Han Solo movie, a highly anticipated Lucasfilm production.
It seems there are very few things Glover can’t execute.
“I’m having a moment of creative elasticity. It’s easier for me to do it, but I know eventually the rubber band will come back together,” said Glover in interview with Deadline last June.
“So I’m just doing what I can right now. I’m, you know, the word isn’t really “fortunate” because it’s not like luck or anything, it’s just the wave of things—I’m cresting. It’s cool.”
Angelique Cherie Fullwood 