– Written by John Makela –
Donald Glover’s creativity is on display once again.
Well known actor, musician, director, and just overall talented human being Donald Glover has been making headlines recently with the launch of what seems to be a new creative step.
The introduction to his project GILGA Radio came from a cryptic live stream shared on instagram by Donald Glover. The original live stream was over an hour long, premiering shortly after Glover’s performance that was shared with Tyler the Creator at Coachella 2024.
This livestream displayed what Glover is attempting to achieve with GILGA. Gilga previewed a mix of old and brand new releases from Glover which would mark the first time in four years that Glover had self published.
Glover announced a multitude of new projects in the near future through the GILGA radio program. Two albums, one being the last we will hear under Glover’s alter ego Childish Gambino, and the other being a soundtrack for a Zack Fox and Donald Glover produced anime.
It was also announced that a completed version of Glover’s 2020 album 3.15.20 will be released soon. It is speculated to go under the name Atavista. As of writing this 3.15.20 has been taken off of multiple streaming platforms. Donald Glover shared a suggested tracklist that will follow this release of the album almost two months ago.
Along with all of this Glover announced a world tour coming this summer! The New World Tour was easily one of the most exciting announcements to come from Glover’s grab on the summer.
Tracklist for completed album version of 3.15.20, Atavista.
Before we get caught up in the music coming, let’s talk about the music we have heard. This is a new era of Gambino, to hear him rapping at such a mature level (he’s old as shit) is really interesting. To compare his work starting with Camp (2011) to what he is doing now can’t even be done. I am really liking what I’m hearing, specifically one song has shown this more in the roll-out than any other.
The song that has been making rounds on social media is the unexpected Kanye collaboration. This song was included at the ending of the first episode of the radio program, and sparked a social media wildfire. There were many claims that the voice of Ye on the song ‘Say Less’ was AI generated. It would follow the satiric AI generated theme that Glover chose for GILGA. This claim hasn’t necessarily been proved or disproven however it is widely believed it is real, mostly due to the fact that Kanye hasn’t complained about it yet. Personally, song is heat, and I have no idea where the idea of AI is coming from but give it a listen and judge for yourself.
Another song he dropped with the episode is just straight bars and I love it so much. It is called ‘Hands Up High’ and he raps about, “finding happiness the older (he) gets” and pissing on the haters and leaving the seat up. The song in itself is beautiful though, and Glover rapping like this makes me so fucking happy.
We also heard a remix of the song 35.31 off of Glover’s 3.15.20, featuring a newly heard Young Nudy verse. It was a fun kind of weird, and Young Nudy definitely did his thing. It is expected to be off the new re-release Atavista.
Personally I have always loved Donald Glover. I loved Atlanta, I loved Community, and I will always love the music. I do not think there is a skip in his discography, and that’s purely opinion but I don’t care. I thought Awaken My Love was amazing, and surprisingly loved 3.15.20. Overall, I am very excited for how Glover will wrap up Gambino, and what the future holds for this creative genius.
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