Donald McKinley Glover is an American actor as well as writer, producer, director, comedian, rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known by his stage name Childish Gambino and as a disc jockey, he performs under the name mcDJ.

Donald Glover Early Life

He was born on September 25, 1983, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He is the son of Beverly, a daycare center and Donald Glover, a postal worker. His parents also served as foster parents for 14 years. Glover grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness. Glover has two siblings, Bee Glover and Stephen, who also works with him as a writer for Atlanta.

childhood, baby, young Baby Donald Glover in the 80’s
Source: Dailydot

Donald Glover grew up in a religious household in Georgia. A creative and energetic kid, he was adept at a wide range of performing arts. His immediate success as a writer and actor would ironically plague Childish Gambino, as it drew his focus away from music, which for most of Donald’s creative life, was just a side project.

He attended DeKalb School of the Arts,  was voted “Most Likely to Write for The Simpsons” in his high school yearbook. Glover graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in dramatic writing in 2006.

High School Yearbook Photo of Donald Glover (Rocking that Star Wars t-shirt)
Source: Reddit

Career: Acting, Mixtape

After his graduation, in 2006, he was hired as a writer for the TV show ’30 Rock,’ where he also occasionally appeared as an actor. Three years later he left that job to move to Los Angeles and was soon cast on the sitcom Community and left the show during the fifth season.He released his first mixtape, “Sick Boi” in 2008, using a name, Childish Gambino, he had been given by an online Wu-Tang Clan name generator.

Glover also became a member of the sketch comedy group Derrick Comedy, having appeared in their sketches on YouTube since 2006, along with Dominic Dierkes, Meggie McFadden, DC Pierson, and Dan Eckman. The group wrote and starred in a feature-length film, Mystery Team, released in theatres in 2009.

In 2015, Glover has also appeared as supporting roles in films including, The Lazarus Effect, Magic Mike XXL, and The Martian.

His next mixtape “Poindexter” was released on September 19, 2009. At the same day, “Community” premiered on NBC. While his brainy, sometimes goofy rapping style was established by these two mixtapes, his next efforts sought to expand his reach and touch on more serious subjects.

Childish Gambino stage performance
Source: Uproxx

I AM JUST A RAPPER and I AM JUST A RAPPER 2 were released in quick succession at the beginning of 2010. Then after a few months later, he released Culdesac, a mixtape that showed off his soulful singing style. All the while he was still starring on Community, launching a successful stand-up comedy career, and making electronic music under the name mcDJ. To this point, all his music had been self-released, but that changed when he was signed to Glassnote Records in 2011.

First official Album “Camp”

His first official album “Camp” was issued that same year and has sold more than 240,000 copies. Glover launched a tour that lasted into 2012, then released another mixtape “Royalty” denoting his new status as a more serious rapper and featuring a range of musicians including Beck, ScHoolboy Q, and Das Racist’s Heems.

Along with guesting on tracks by Kilo Kish, Chance the Rapper, Young Dro, and Kenna, his next move was to reduce his commitment to Community in order to focus more on his music and other projects, most notably a production deal with the TBS network. He left the show for good in 2013.

Released his second album, “Because the Internet”

In 2013, he released his second album, “Because the Internet” and with U.S. sales of 377,000 copies. The record featured appearances by Chance the Rapper, Jhené Aiko, and Azealia Banks, and scored Childish Gambino a Top Ten debut chart placement, a gold record, and a nomination for Best Rap Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards.

“Because the Internet” Official Poster

Glover kept up the same determined pace he always had, and in 2015 released a new mixtape, STN MTN, and EP, Kauai, both of which showed him expanding his sound, with the latter featuring more singing than before. His next big project was creating and starring in Atlanta, a well-received comedic drama set in the titular city. It debuted in September of 2016 and was an instant commercial success.Around this same time, Glover began dropping hints about a new album, played a festival in California where he played many new songs.

Debut single, “Me and Your Mama”

On November 2016, he  debuted the first single, “Me and Your Mama.” It was a new sound cooked up by Glover and longtime producer Ludwig Göransson, based on deeply weird late-’60s and early-’70s psychedelic funk and soul like Sly & the Family Stone and Funkadelic.

donal glover aka Childish Gambino biography, bio, wiki, net worth Childish Gambino at the Grammy Award (Source: Pinterest)

“Awaken, My Love!”, which came out in December of 2016, featured Glover forgoing his trademark rap style completely and instead, stretching his vocal range in a variety of styles. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi. Along with guesting on tracks by Kilo Kish, Chance the Rapper, Young Dro, and Kenna, his next move was to reduce his commitment to Community in order to focus more on his music and other projects, most notably a production deal with the TBS network.

Glover kept up the same determined pace he always had, and in 2015 released a new mixtape, STN MTN, and EP, Kauai, both of which showed him expanding his sound, with the latter featuring more singing than before. His next big project was creating and starring in Atlanta, a well-received comedic drama set in the titular city. It debuted in September of 2016 and was an instant commercial success.

awards childish gambino Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino Accepting Golden Globe Awards for ‘Atlanta’

Updated:

On 18 September 2017, Donald Glover won two Emmys for his work on “Atlanta”. One for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series, and one for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. In both cases, his win was a breakthrough, which he made history as the first black person to win an Emmy for directing for a comedy.

Source: Twitter

He thanked his parents, who he brought with him, his brother, FX, and his best friend Hiro Murai who he says taught him everything about directing.

Source: Twitter

Personal Life: Baby Son, Partner, Net Worth, Wife

Glover has one child, who was born in 2016. During his Golden Globe acceptance speech in January 2017, Glover revealed the child was a boy. It turns out that he is so private, he has not revealed her named publicly.

There isn’t much known about Glover’s girlfriend just yet, but with the report that the two are now raising a child together, in the fact that the two were spotted together in Hawaii, according to a report by US Weekly. At the time, Glover’s girlfriend looked to be very pregnant, and, if the report that she gave birth in January is correct, she definitely was.

Atlanta star Donald Glover and his girlfriend were seen out with their new Baby
Source: Daily Mail

Gambino’s ‘Camp’ album earned roughly $250,000 in sales in 2011, and the ‘Because the Internet’ album brought in $330,000 in 2013, the latest figures available. Donald Glover, through his acting and music career (as Childish Gambino), has a net worth estimated at $4.5 million.

 

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