S. Samuel
While television heads may know actor Donald Glover for his role on NBC's "Community" series, hip-hop fanatics may be shocked to find out the thespian-turned-rapper is heavily influenced by one of Shaolin's finest.
Glover, also known by rap alias Childish Gambino, credits his early exposure to Ghost as well as non-rap music for inspiring his tunes.
Childish Gambino was influenced by a range of different musicians. His flow can be compared to Kanye West and Lil’ Wayne at times, but his lyrics say otherwise. “I’m influenced by LCD Soundsystem as much as Ghostface Killah,” he told the Guardian. “A lot of the rap shows I saw as a kid were boring, but if you went to a Rage show or a Justice show, the kids were losing their minds.” (VIBE)
In November, Glover defended his decision to make music about suburban life struggles rather than aggressive tunes.
“People are always like, ‘It’s not hard enough,'” he says of listeners’ reaction. “I’m like, ‘There’s a bunch of hard sh*t out there. It’s everywhere. If you don’t like my sh*t, get a 50 Cent album. Buy a Meek Mill album.’ The thing that bothers me is that people hear my stuff and they don’t want it to exist. They would like to take it out of the world.” (Billboard)
His new album, Camp, debuted on the sales chart in late November.
Rapper/comedian Childish Gambino’s Camp debuted on the chart this week at No. 11. With a week under his belt, the rapper’s new album has sold 52,300 records. (SOHH Sales Wrap)
Last August, Machine Gun Kelly reached out to SOHH and explained the underground art behind raging.
“Raging is just about taking a bunch of pent up anger and turning it into crazy antics on-stage,” Kelly explained to SOHH. “It’s just a chance for a 30-minute, hour-long show to free yourself. It’s about freeing yourself and being whatever you want. Whether it’s pulling your boobs out, yelling, or just bleeding everywhere. Whatever. You choose your own form of rage.” (SOHH)
Check out Donald Glover’s “Freaks & Geeks” music video below:
