iHeartRadio Presents Black Excellence Childish Gambino
02/01/21 • 3 min
As black history month continues this February, we’ve been highlighting artists that have changed popular culture in more ways than one. Whether it be music, acting, philanthropy or social justice. It’s important and imperative to highlight their achievements. Through their craft and their actions, they’ve been able to impact a generation of now, while leaving a legacy for generations to come.
In today’s episode we’re talking about Childish Gambino.
Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino was born in California and raised in Stone Mountain Georgia... Just north-east of Atlanta. While creative as a child, he didn’t start exploring the arts until he reached high school. This is where he found his footing in entertainment. Performing in school musicals and plays. He was actually voted “Most Likely To Write For The Simpsons” in his yearbook. He would move on to study and graduate with a degree New York University’s Tisch School Of The Arts in Dramatic Writing.
While attending university, he started to develop his voice in the booth and Childish Gambino was born. Sort of. How did he get the name? The internet of course. He managed to secure his alias using an online Wu-Tang name generator and began recording, producing and DJing. From humble beginnings, his 2013 release of Because The Internet put him in the conversation with the very best music had to offer, garnering him his first of 12 Grammy nominations to date. He’s s gone on to win 5 Grammys, including 4 for his chart topping, ground breaking song and video THIS IS AMERICA. To date, the video has garnered 3⁄4 of a BILLION views on youtube alone, and was 1 of the largest cultural talking points of 2018.
While we know Childish Gambino for songs like Redbone and This Is America. We recognize Donald Glover from where we’ve seen him. It all started as a writer on the hit TV 30 Rock. Hand picked by Tina Fey, she had this to say “He was literally still living in the NYU dorms,” Fey said. “And that was a great resource for us. We would turn to him and ask, ‘What would a young person say here?” He spent 3 seasons on 30 Rock as a writer, before transitioning to acting in another cult classic “Community”. After 4 seasons on Community, the ever evolving entertainer decided to put all the puzzle pieces together and try his hand at producing, writing and starring in “Atlanta”. He’s won 2 Golden Globes for “Best television series Musical or Comedy” and “Best Actor” – television musical or comedy. His role in Atlanta also landed him in the history books when he became the first black man to win an Emmy for “Outstanding Directing In A Comedy series.”
In 2017, Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino was named to Time 100 list of most influential people. He has managed to use his influence for some great social causes. In 2020, he reunited with the cast of Community for a live read to benefit World Central Kitchen and Frontline Foods’ COVID-19 relief efforts.
The take away from Donald Glover’s story is to be you. Pursue what your heart desires, don’t let anyone tell you what can and can’t be done. Never confine yourself to one thing. You’re so much more. Your options are infinite.
Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino is Black Excellence.
Check back for more #BlackExcellence episodes throughout #BlackHistoryMonth
CREDITS:
Research By Dames Nellas and John R. Kennedy
Donald Glover Time 100 Most Influential People By Miles Bowe
https://www.factmag.com/2017/04/20/chance-rapper-donald-glover-time-100-most-influential-people-of-2017/#:~:text=Chance%20the%20Rapper%20and%20Donald,those%20who%20have%20shared%20them.%E2%80%9D
Donald Glover “Community” Cast to reunite for COVID-19 relief By Althea Legaspi
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/donald-glover-community-cast-reunite-covid-19-relief-event-995873/
As black history month continues this February, we’ve been highlighting artists that have changed popular culture in more ways than one. Whether it be music, acting, philanthropy or social justice. It’s important and imperative to highlight their achievements. Through their craft and their actions, they’ve been able to impact a generation of now, while leaving a legacy for generations to come.
In today’s episode we’re talking about Childish Gambino.
Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino was born in California and raised in Stone Mountain Georgia... Just north-east of Atlanta. While creative as a child, he didn’t start exploring the arts until he reached high school. This is where he found his footing in entertainment. Performing in school musicals and plays. He was actually voted “Most Likely To Write For The Simpsons” in his yearbook. He would move on to study and graduate with a degree New York University’s Tisch School Of The Arts in Dramatic Writing.
While attending university, he started to develop his voice in the booth and Childish Gambino was born. Sort of. How did he get the name? The internet of course. He managed to secure his alias using an online Wu-Tang name generator and began recording, producing and DJing. From humble beginnings, his 2013 release of Because The Internet put him in the conversation with the very best music had to offer, garnering him his first of 12 Grammy nominations to date. He’s s gone on to win 5 Grammys, including 4 for his chart topping, ground breaking song and video THIS IS AMERICA. To date, the video has garnered 3⁄4 of a BILLION views on youtube alone, and was 1 of the largest cultural talking points of 2018.
While we know Childish Gambino for songs like Redbone and This Is America. We recognize Donald Glover from where we’ve seen him. It all started as a writer on the hit TV 30 Rock. Hand picked by Tina Fey, she had this to say “He was literally still living in the NYU dorms,” Fey said. “And that was a great resource for us. We would turn to him and ask, ‘What would a young person say here?” He spent 3 seasons on 30 Rock as a writer, before transitioning to acting in another cult classic “Community”. After 4 seasons on Community, the ever evolving entertainer decided to put all the puzzle pieces together and try his hand at producing, writing and starring in “Atlanta”. He’s won 2 Golden Globes for “Best television series Musical or Comedy” and “Best Actor” – television musical or comedy. His role in Atlanta also landed him in the history books when he became the first black man to win an Emmy for “Outstanding Directing In A Comedy series.”
In 2017, Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino was named to Time 100 list of most influential people. He has managed to use his influence for some great social causes. In 2020, he reunited with the cast of Community for a live read to benefit World Central Kitchen and Frontline Foods’ COVID-19 relief efforts.
The take away from Donald Glover’s story is to be you. Pursue what your heart desires, don’t let anyone tell you what can and can’t be done. Never confine yourself to one thing. You’re so much more. Your options are infinite.
Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino is Black Excellence.
Check back for more #BlackExcellence episodes throughout #BlackHistoryMonth
CREDITS:
Research By Dames Nellas and John R. Kennedy
Donald Glover Time 100 Most Influential People By Miles Bowe
https://www.factmag.com/2017/04/20/chance-rapper-donald-glover-time-100-most-influential-people-of-2017/#:~:text=Chance%20the%20Rapper%20and%20Donald,those%20who%20have%20shared%20them.%E2%80%9D
Donald Glover “Community” Cast to reunite for COVID-19 relief By Althea Legaspi
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/donald-glover-community-cast-reunite-covid-19-relief-event-995873/
Previous Episode
iHeartRadio Presents Black Excellence Alicia Keys
iHeartRadio’s Jamar McNeil highlights just some of the reasons why Alicia Keys is #BlackExcellence.
Keys started playing piano at age six and studied classical music and jazz. Her exposure to the music of Billie Holiday Ella Fitzgerald and Thelonius Monk as well as Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin explain her signature style of fusing the classical sound with Black Swag. She wrote her first song at the age of 12 on the piano and shortly after She signed a record deal at 15.
She had a rough start in her professional career. Creative disputes about her songs her look, her hair and her overall presentation made things difficult for her during her relationship with record label. She was able to get attention from the one and only Clive Davis who brought her over to his new label J Records where he allowed her to have creative control of her music and her likeness. Without that support, we might not have gotten the Alicia Keys with her urban wear and her signature Corn rows that let us know that this classic piano virtuoso was keeping it ALL THE WAY REAL
At 20, she released her debut album Songs in A Minor. It's one of my fav albums. A combo of Soul, Classical Piano, Neo Soul and BoomBap east coast hip hop. She’d been working on it since she was only 14. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and earned Keys five Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year for “Fallin’
Keys co-founded Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organization that supports families with HIV and AIDS in Africa and India. In 2017, she was named by Amnesty International, an award that also went to Canadian Indigenous rights activists.
Alicia Keys over came her rough environment of Hell’s Kitchen Manhattan and the tough pressures of the corporate recording industry to be given titles like, Artist of the decade, one of the 100 Greatest Women in Music, 100 most influential people in the world to name a few.
CREDITS:
Research By Jamar McNeil, John R. Kennedy
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Next Episode
Black Excellence Roundtable: What are the Black Music Influences that have Impacted our Lives?
CHUM 104.5's Azalea Hart is joined by Jamar McNeil (CHUM 104.5's Marilyn & Jamar), Leah Abrahams (Virgin Radio's Virgin Mornings with Adam Wylde TJ & Jax), and Dames Nellas (Virgin Radio Weekender) to discuss how Black Music and culture influenced their lives growing up, and their careers moving forward.
Each member gives us a look in to their upbringings, their passion for music, and what it means to them.
The roundtable panel discusses and debates the history of hip hop, and other Black-led genres, and the influence it has had on all of music past, present, and future.
The panel gets honest about how Black culture can often be misunderstood, misrepresented or mismanaged in mainstream media, and they discuss the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime show, and if the predominantly black performers will make a political statement while the world is watching.
Don't forget to review and subscribe to this podcast on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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