Childish Gambino

Donald McKinley Glover Jr., known musically as Childish Gambino, has built a parallel career across rap, singing, television, film and comedy. Before his recording career reached a wide audience, he studied at New York University, worked with the comedy group Derrick Comedy, and was hired by Tina Fey as a writer for NBC's 30 Rock at age 23. He later became widely known as Troy Barnes on Community, playing the college student from 2009 to 2014.

After releasing several projects independently, Glover signed with Glassnote Records in 2011 and issued his debut studio album, Camp, that November. His second album, Because the Internet, arrived in 2013, with its single “3005” becoming his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. His music moved between rap, R&B, neo soul and indie-minded production, and his 2016 work took a pronounced psychedelic funk direction. “Redbone,” released ahead of the album “Awaken, My Love!”, peaked at number 12 on the Hot 100 and won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

In 2018, “This Is America” debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, it won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video, taking every category for which it was nominated. The song also received a Guinness World Record as the first hip hop track to win both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Glover followed with 3.15.20 in 2020, then released Atavista, a reworking of that album, in 2024. Later that year he issued his fifth album, Bando Stone & the New World.

Outside music, Glover created, starred in and occasionally directed FX's Atlanta, which ran from 2016 to 2022. His work on the series earned two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. His film roles include appearances in The Lazarus Effect, Magic Mike XXL and The Martian, followed by Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. He voiced adult Simba in 2019's The Lion King and starred in and produced the short film Guava Island. Glover later co-created Swarm and created and starred in the 2024 Prime Video series Mr. & Mrs. Smith.