THE FUTURE OF
HIP-HOP
by Jonathan Robles
Childish Gambino I
t’s a rainy, early summer evening in New York City’s Central Park. Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) is set to take the stage after fellow rappers Danny Brown and ScHoolboy Q. The weather has caused the show to be delayed, but the attendees are only more energized, with roars of “Gambino! Gambino! Gambino!” waving across the sold-out crowd. Following brief performances by the aforementioned, the venue becomes electric as Glover finally takes the stage. “I want to see every one of you move,” he requests. “This isn’t a rap
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concert; this is a rock ‘n’ roll concert!” The young MC then proceeds into a freestyle rap over Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” Weather a non-factor, Glover performs for over an hour, hypnotizing his audience for every second. It’s what he does. Sure, he’s a rapper, but he has captivated music lovers in a different way from many of his peers. And it’s safe to say he’s becoming aware of that. Donald Glover doesn’t have the rap “credentials” of so many before him. The 28-year-old was raised in a middle-class home in Georgia. He graduated from New York University with a degree in Dramatic Writing, landing
a writing gig for the Tina Fey comedy 30 Rock shortly afterward. His cameos on the NBC series led to a full-time role on another cult favorite, Community, where he currently plays the hilariously quirky Troy Barnes. He’s a writer, a DJ, a musician, an actor, and a comedian, but recently he’s proving to be a major player as a rapper. Since the release of his debut album, Camp, which sold 52,000 copies in its first week, he has slowly crept his way into the viewpoint of the music world. There’s something about this guy. “He’s like the guy next door,” a fan stated after a recent Gambino perfor-
