Donald Glover Is Hanging Up His Childish Gambino Alter Ego After His Next Album

Donald Glover has announced that he’s ready to retire his musical alter ego, Childish Gambino. The five-time Grammy winner shared the news during a Gilga Radio interview live-streamed on Instagram, saying he will release two more albums before he gets rid of his Childish Gambino persona. One of the two upcoming albums, titled Atavista, is an extension of his 3.15.20 project from 2020, The Fader reported. The second album, he said, will be the last Childish Gambino album.

As he talked about his plans to retire the alter ego, Glover said, “Childish Gambino worked on this last project and he just walked into the ocean.”

Glover recalled a conversation he had with Wu-Tang member, RZA, as he gave context to the Childish Gambino persona. RZA, according to Glover, said that “Childish Gambino is the story of a boy turning into a boss.”

“That always stuck with me,” Glover said. “Also, I feel like it was always just me trying to, like, still have fun, not be an adult.”

The 40-year-old artist is now focused on releasing a new version of 3.15.20, which was originally supposed to be titled Atavista. However, amid the pandemic in 2020, Glover said he released the unmixed and unmastered project with a new title.

“We put it out kind of quickly, I didn’t master or mix it [when it was released],” Glover said. “I just put it out. I was going through a lot.”

The original version of Atavista includes collaborations with Ariana Grande, 21 Savage, Ink and Kahdja Bonet, per iHeart Radio.  Glover revealed during his latest interview that he will soon release a video for “Little Foot Big Foot,” one of the tracks featured on 3.15.20. Additionally, the multi-talented entertainer is working on an upcoming film, Bando Stone & The New World. Glover said his final album would serve as the soundtrack for the film.

“I started working on this film called Bando Stone & the New World and I always loved soundtracks,” Glover said.

Glover, who shared previews of his new songs during the radio broadcast, said he’s rewarding his fans for being patient.

“My fans are patient, and they’ve been starving,” he said. “I really love them.”

Glover teased his fans in March when he went to Instagram to share a screenshot of the tracklist for Atavista. Although he remains mysterious for the most part, Glover said in 2023 that Tyler The Creator advised him to be less “cryptic.”

“I just like suspense, I guess,” he told Complex. “I think it makes stuff better. But that’s just me.”

Listen to Glover’s interview below!