New Year, new Childish Gambino — according to Donald Glover.
Though Glover, 40, once indicated that he would retire his rap alter-ego, the actor recently hinted that Childish Gambino will return in 2024, telling TMZ in New York City that the next project he’s working on is another album.
Asked when fans might be able to expect Glover’s new project, he simply teased, “Soon,” as he sat down in his ride and drove off.
As of 2023, Childish Gambino has released more than a dozen mixtapes, four EPs and four full-length albums, the most recent being 2020’s 3.15.20. The LP featured appearances from Ariana Grande (“Time”), 21 Savage, Ink and Kadhja Bonet (“12.38”).
3.15.20 arrived two years after Glover dropped “This Is America,” which bluntly addressed systemic racism, racial violence and other aspects of racial oppression in the United States in its lyrics and corresponding video. The song, which Glover said originated as a Drake diss track, topped the Billboard Hot 100, making it his only No. 1 to date.
In 2017, the Atlanta star announced at the Governor’s Ball Music Festival in New York City that his next album would be the swansong for Childish Gambino. “There’s nothing [worse] than, like, a third sequel, like, a third movie and we’re like, ‘Again?’” he explained to HuffPost after the announcement. “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.”
Glover said at the time that continuing the project would comprise his vision. “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,” he said.
Earlier this year, however, Glover revealed that he had revived the project. “I’m making music right now. I love it,” he told E! News at the 2023 Golden Globes. “I’m actually in the studio. I’ve been bringing people in, like, secret people, working on little things. I’ve been just making it for fun right now. But soon, something will happen. I promise.”
When asked about his earlier statement that Childish Gambino was retiring, Glover waved it off. “That was out in the ethos,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about that. He’ll be back. He’s here right now.”
