“It really was just like, ‘Oh, it’s done,’” Donald Glover said, of realizing his musical alter ego was over. “It’s not fulfilling. And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore.”Credit...Ashley McLean for The New York Times
Despite the headline, the article isn't really about answering only that one question. The whole article is interesting, especially if you're a fan of his, so still well worth reading, IMO. As for...
Despite the headline, the article isn't really about answering only that one question. The whole article is interesting, especially if you're a fan of his, so still well worth reading, IMO.
Donald Glover is the only celebrity I have ever really related to on any meaningful level. There are plenty of celebrities I like, and a few that I deeply admire, but he is the only one I feel...
Donald Glover is the only celebrity I have ever really related to on any meaningful level. There are plenty of celebrities I like, and a few that I deeply admire, but he is the only one I feel like I could carry on a conversation with for hours and we'd get each other.
Every other celebrity I know of feels like they grew up worlds apart from me. But Donald Glover and I are very nearly the same age and grew up in close proximity to each other. His first high school (now closed) was about 12 minutes from my first high school, and his second high school (now moved) was about 13 minutes from my second high school. If I had been just a couple years older or he just a couple years younger, we very plausibly may have known each other. I certainly knew a ton of people at both of his high schools (they're all just a couple years younger than him), and I would be surprised if he didn't know a ton of people at mine (but likely just a couple years older than me).
I think our experiences growing up were likely pretty similar to each other — although they were kind of the mirror opposite in some ways: namely, he was the weird Black guy in a white school and I was the weird white girl in a Black school.
I particularly enjoyed his show Atlanta because, better than anything else I can think of, it really captured a lot of the strangely scary-yet-magical feel of the little corner of the city where we grew up — the poverty, the burgeoning underground rap scene, the strange woods, the eccentric locals, the crime rates, etc. — in a way that feels closer to a love letter a la Twin Peaks than a grim admonishment a la The Wire. I wonder if people who didn't grow up in that exact time and place get the same thing out of it that I do.
Thanks for sharing, and for clarifying there's a bit more to it than the clickbaity title. His album 'Because the Internet' occupies that nostalgic space he alluded to for me -- thinking of those...
Thanks for sharing, and for clarifying there's a bit more to it than the clickbaity title.
His album 'Because the Internet' occupies that nostalgic space he alluded to for me -- thinking of those songs makes me remember how it felt to hang out with my now-wife circa 2013.
I haven't really paid much attention to him since then -- if I'm being honest it's probably just the hipster in me feeling like he got too popular. But reading this article reminds me what a charming dude he is. Will give the album a crack.
Three albums are like this for me. BTI was a dark, moody year, unsure about the future. STN MTN / Kauai was a bright, carefree, and optimistic summer. "Awaken, My Love!" was cold winter nights...
Three albums are like this for me. BTI was a dark, moody year, unsure about the future. STN MTN / Kauai was a bright, carefree, and optimistic summer. "Awaken, My Love!" was cold winter nights spent alone. Furnace went out so I had to use a space heater and layers of blankets.
I'll save you a paywalled click...
Despite the headline, the article isn't really about answering only that one question. The whole article is interesting, especially if you're a fan of his, so still well worth reading, IMO.
As for the paywall, I provided a mirror in a separate comment.
Donald Glover is the only celebrity I have ever really related to on any meaningful level. There are plenty of celebrities I like, and a few that I deeply admire, but he is the only one I feel like I could carry on a conversation with for hours and we'd get each other.
Every other celebrity I know of feels like they grew up worlds apart from me. But Donald Glover and I are very nearly the same age and grew up in close proximity to each other. His first high school (now closed) was about 12 minutes from my first high school, and his second high school (now moved) was about 13 minutes from my second high school. If I had been just a couple years older or he just a couple years younger, we very plausibly may have known each other. I certainly knew a ton of people at both of his high schools (they're all just a couple years younger than him), and I would be surprised if he didn't know a ton of people at mine (but likely just a couple years older than me).
I think our experiences growing up were likely pretty similar to each other — although they were kind of the mirror opposite in some ways: namely, he was the weird Black guy in a white school and I was the weird white girl in a Black school.
I particularly enjoyed his show Atlanta because, better than anything else I can think of, it really captured a lot of the strangely scary-yet-magical feel of the little corner of the city where we grew up — the poverty, the burgeoning underground rap scene, the strange woods, the eccentric locals, the crime rates, etc. — in a way that feels closer to a love letter a la Twin Peaks than a grim admonishment a la The Wire. I wonder if people who didn't grow up in that exact time and place get the same thing out of it that I do.
You're 100% correct, Atlanta=Southeast LowerSES 2010 really does feel like Strangers Things=Midwest 1980s.
Thanks for sharing, and for clarifying there's a bit more to it than the clickbaity title.
His album 'Because the Internet' occupies that nostalgic space he alluded to for me -- thinking of those songs makes me remember how it felt to hang out with my now-wife circa 2013.
I haven't really paid much attention to him since then -- if I'm being honest it's probably just the hipster in me feeling like he got too popular. But reading this article reminds me what a charming dude he is. Will give the album a crack.
Three albums are like this for me. BTI was a dark, moody year, unsure about the future. STN MTN / Kauai was a bright, carefree, and optimistic summer. "Awaken, My Love!" was cold winter nights spent alone. Furnace went out so I had to use a space heater and layers of blankets.
Mirror: https://archive.is/J6H2j