Donald Glover Confirms That He Is Retiring ‘Childish Gambino’

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

“Childish Gambino,” the moniker that all-around entertainer Donald Glover goes by as a recording artist, shall soon be no more.

The rapper-singer-actor-producer-generally multitalented jack-of-all-trades announced over the weekend at the Governor’s Ball Music Festival in New York City that his next album will be his last.

“I’ll see you for the last Gambino album,” Glover quipped at the end of his performance.

Advertisement

Later, at an event to promote his FX show Atlanta, Glover confirmed to HuffPost that he’s waving goodbye to his music career, since it is not “necessary” anymore.

Advertisement

“There’s nothing worse than, like, a third sequel; like, a third movie; and we’re like, ‘Again?’” he said. “You know, I like it when something’s good and when it comes back there’s a reason to come back, there’s a reason to do that.”

Advertisement

He also talked about how he felt that “Childish Gambino” was losing some of its punkness, which is something he was not willing to sacrifice.

“Like, I feel like there’s gotta be a reason to do things, and I always had a reason to be punk,” he added. “Being punk just always felt really good to me, and we always looked at Atlanta as a punk show, and I feel like the direction I would go with ‘Childish Gambino’ wouldn’t be punk anymore. As much as ‘Redbone’ is a punk song because it’s a gospel song that’s on the radio, I’m like, there’s only so far you can go before you just are the radio.”

Advertisement

“Redbone” is, of course, the artist’s highest-charting single to date, peaking at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.

Since his debut as a recording artist in 2008, he has released some seven mixtapes, two EPS and three studio albums—a solid repertoire that seems to be enough for the performer currently—at least as Gambino.