Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino

Photo: Presley Ann/Getty Images

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Childish Gambino Releases Two-Tune 'Summer Pack' EP

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"Summertime Magic" and "Feels Like Summer" keep the heat feeling groovy
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jul 11, 2018 - 1:50 pm

GRAMMY winner Childish Gambino released his Summer Pack EP on July 11 — two new tracks to keep you locked in the groove while it's hot. The audio-only singles "Summertime Magic" and "Feels Like Summer" were produced by the artist with long-time collaborator and GRAMMY nominee Ludwig Goransson.

Childish Gambino is, of course, the musical persona of singer/songwriter, actor and TV producer Donald Glover. His schedule feels as accelerated as the Millennium Falcon, fresh off his appearance on the BET Awards, prepping for his tour starting September, and sharing the Austin City Limits Music Festival headliner bill with Paul McCartney this October. If that weren't enough, an additional appearance was just announced on July 11 — he'll also be performing at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on Sept. 21 in Las Vegas.

Gambino's "This Is America" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 after he released a video for the song and  performed it on "Saturday Night Live." Behind his SNL performance of the new song "Saturday," viewers could spot a smiling Ludwig Goransson on guitar. Those two songs plus the July 11 Summer Pack make up four tracks from what fans expect will be his upcoming album, while they cross their fingers that it won't be his last. After his GRAMMY win in Jan. 2018 backstage, he ominously added weight to rumors his musical persona will be terminated by saying he liked "endings" and advocating the benefits of contracts having a "death clause."

Meanwhile, Glover is currently voicing Simba for the upcoming The Lion King remake. Fans, with their fans turned on, can enjoy the Summer Pack songs while waiting for an audio release of his second song from SNL, "Saturday." One of the most versatile and surprising of entertainers, he's bound to keep everyone guessing at what's coming next.

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61st GRAMMY Awards
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Song Of The Year Nominations Roundup | 2019 GRAMMY Awards

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It all starts with a song — created by teams of composers, lyricists and beatmasters in collaboration, these are the 61st GRAMMY nominees for Song Of The Year
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Dec 7, 2018 - 5:36 am

The songwriting teams who collaborated to create the Song Of The Year nominees for the 61st GRAMMY Awards were successful by combining the musical talents of individuals into strong tunes that transported millions into their musical worlds. It all starts with a song, and these eight nominated numbers began with the spark on an idea, but their final result speaks for itself. Their results sing. Here's a look at this year's GRAMMY nominees for Song Of The Year.

"All The Stars" (performed by Kendrick Lamar & SZA)

The songwriting category nominees are  listed not by their stage names but by legal birth names, known to hardcore fans. Kendrick Duckworth is Kendrick Lamar, Pulitzer recipient and winner of 12 GRAMMY awards.  Solána Rowe is the official songwriting name of SZA. Together, their "All The Stars" led the charge that added Black Panther's origin story to the Marvel universe and became the cornerstone of the movie's soundtrack. Their GRAMMY-winning co-writers for "All The Stars," Al Shux, Sounwave and Top Dawg are also known as Al Shuckburgh, Mark Spears & Anthony Tiffith respectively.

"Boo'd Up" (performed by Ella Mai)

The R&B hit "Boo'd Up catapulted Ella Mai into the national spotlight, fueling her breakout year as an artist. Co-writer Larrance Dopson or Rance has been nominated twice before and Dijon McFarlane is better known as DJ Mustard. Co-writer Joelle James is a singer/songwriter and producer, who performed at Showtime at the Apollo when she was age 11, and has collaborated as a grown-up on duets with Chris Brown.

"God's Plan" (performed by Drake)

"October's Very Own" GRAMMY winner Drake, nominated as Aubrey Graham, co-wrote the moving "God's Plan" with talented collaborators Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, GRAMMY winner Noah "40" Shebib, and previously nominated Cardo and Boi-1da, the stage names of Ron LaTour and Matthew Samuels. The song succeeded on release with both Drake's loyal fans and new listeners, spending double-digit weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"In My Blood" (performed by Shawn Mendes)

Shawn Mendes, a chart-topping young singer/songwriter, worked with a crew of long-time collaborators to pen his biggest hit of the year, "In My Blood." These are singer/songwriter and producer Teddy Geiger, songwriter and producer Scott Harris and Geoffrey Warburton. Together their writing has made millions of hearts beat faster with sincere messages that musically represent Mendes himself.

"The Joke" (performed by Brandi Carlile)

Working with GRAMMY-winning songwriter and producer Dave Cobb, singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile added to her canon of originals with "The Joke." The twin Hanseroth brothers, Phil and Tim, who co-wrote "The Joke" also play guitar and bass on the song. "I wrote 'The Joke' about a reckoning and a revolution and a time that's coming when we'll realize that love has already conquered the world and pick it back up," says Carlile about the powerful and uplifting song.

"The Middle" (performed by Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey)

"The Middle" shows off the vocals of GRAMMY-winning country singer Maren Morris, over a highly danceable beat. GRAMMY winner Anton Zaslavski, better known as Zedd, co-wrote the song with Kyle and Michael Trewartha, who are the duo Grey, as well as four other hitmakers including Sarah Aarons, who has written for Grey before and for many hip young artists, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, and Marcus Lomax, the latter three who are songwriters and producers from The Monsters And The Strangerz team in Miami.

"Shallow" (performed by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)

"Shallow" is the lone eligible song from Lady Gaga's A Star Is Born hit soundtrack album. It was co-written by the six-time GRAMMY-winning diva and three collaborators. Singer/songwriter and punk guitarist Anthony Rossomando rocked with previous nominee Andrew Wyatt and five-time GRAMMY-winning songwriter and producer Mark Ronson. Gaga has added her starring role as Ally in the film to her impressive series of distinct expressions of self, inspiring millions to draw on the inner creativity and courage that can be heard in the lines and melodies on "Shallow."

"This Is America" (performed by Childish Gambino)

Released in May, "This Is America" and its sensational cultural commentary helped usher in a big summer for GRAMMY winner Childish Gambino, real name Donald Glover. The song was co-written with long-time collaborator Ludwig Göransson, who also had the lead "Music by" credit on the soundtrack for 2018's Black Panther. Our oral history of the pair's Awaken My Love anticipates the messages of "This Is America" by Glover's comment that the GRAMMY-nominated album had been a challenge to create while "America [was] going through a lot."

Donald Glover

Donald Glover

Photo: Courtesy of Star Wars

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Star Wars 2018: Donald Glover Takes Us Inside The Millennium Falcon

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In advance of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' hitting theaters later this month, the maestro behind Childish Gambino and "Atlanta" shows us inside the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
May 2, 2018 - 3:18 pm

In 1975, Parliament's "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" advised us to "free your mind and come fly with me. It's hip on the mothership." The final countdown to fly with Han Solo and Lando Calrissian is now in progress with the impending May 25 release of Solo: A Star Wars Story. On May 2, Donald Glover took us on a tour of the mothership, the Millennium Falcon, no doubt whetting the appetite of Star Wars fans who are waiting impatiently for the Ron Howard-directed film.

Last September, Glover took home his first career Emmy wins for his work on "Atlanta." More recently, 60th GRAMMY viewers were enthralled on Jan. 28 when Glover took the stage in his Childish Gambino persona to sing "Terrified." He won Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Redbone" at the 60th GRAMMY Awards and, during an interview after the show, addressed his plans to retire Gambino.

Now, in a galaxy far, far away, Glover will take on the identity of Lando Calrissian, perhaps the slickest space gangster in one of the most popular movie franchises of all time. Solo … comes into the series' timeline while Lando still owns the ship — before he loses it to Han Solo in a bet — and it's got a cape room!

As Glover points out in the tour video, Lando knows how to take care of his ride — we get to see it new before Solo and Chewie roughed it up as a result of all those Imperial entanglements. Of course, the natural follow-up question is how much of what Glover shows us comes standard on all Corellian YT-1300f light freighters versus what are Lando's customized modifications? It's clear we can't run out and buy one soon, but the conversation has moved forward since Parliament's 1975 single invited us to fly in space.

In addition to his big debut as Lando Calrissian on the big screen, Glover recently added new Childish Gambino dates to his upcoming tour and he's preparing to host "Saturday Night Live" on May 5.

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Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino

Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images

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Vince Staples Joins Childish Gambino For October 2018 Tour Dates

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The GRAMMY winner adds tour dates to his upcoming fall tour
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Apr 30, 2018 - 12:02 pm

Childish Gambino — aka Donald Glover — won Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 60th GRAMMY Awards for "Redbone," performed "Terrified" during the telecast and last month he announced a national arena tour with Rae Sremmurd. On April 30 new dates were added to this tour, so fans can catch the music, movie and television star before he retires his Childish Gambino persona.

Childish Gambino Performs "3005"

Rapper Vince Staples will be joining Gambino for October dates — adding Denver, Nashville, Tenn., Phoenix, and San Jose, Calif., to the tour as well as a return engagement at the Los Angeles Forum on Oct. 3. In addition, Rae Sremmurd will help Gambino hold down a second date at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 15, added the night after their previously scheduled New York date.

Pre-sale tickets go on sale May 1 via Ticketmaster. Sales of new engagements open to the general public on May 4.

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Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

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Donald Glover Confirms Impending Retirement Of Childish Gambino

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The eventual end of Childish Gambino looks more certain as Donald Glover confessed GRAMMY night, "I like endings"
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 30, 2018 - 4:03 pm

Although Childish Gambino's body of musical work has now been recognized by the GRAMMY Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for his hit "Redbone," that may not be enough to change Donald Glover's plan to give Gambino only one more try before retirement. Billboard zeroed in on the will-he or won't-he question of how long Glover's alias has left to produce, following up on the news Glover made discussing Gambino's final project last summer and his need to keep things "fresh."

Childish Gambino: 2018 GRAMMYs Backstage Interview

Glover definitely kept things fresh on Music's Biggest Night when he took the GRAMMY Stage. He was joined on stage for his performance of "Terrified" by child actor/singer JD McCrary. Unlike Gambino, Glover believes McCrary has an inspiring future. "He's just a natural talent. It was really nice to be able to share that with him," said Glover, saying songs are an escape from the "machine" of the music industry. "To him it was just, 'I get to sing.' So it was really inspiring."

In the same backstage interview in which it seemed that the future retirement of Childish Gambino was set in stone, Glover declared things felt "surreal" and that he would give the following advice to his younger self. "Nothing is what it seems, everything is made-up, so you have to control your destiny and your narrative," Glover imagines himself saying — perhaps a clue to the fate of Childish Gambino.

Donald Glover Makes History With Emmy Win