David BurtonActor Donald Glover is putting his Childish Gambino alter ego to rest after his next release, but he tells Esquire in a new interview that musically, he wants to “make something that stands the test of time,” just like his favorite iconic artists.
“That’s all that matters,” he explains. “I like Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill and Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. That’s everyday music. That’s music that people just put on and they’re like, ‘Man, this song makes me feel good. This song, it helps me get through the day.'”
Glover continues, “You listen to ‘What’s Going On’ — I get a very intense feeling whenever I hear [Gaye] singing. Who’s willing to save a world that is destined to die? That’s such a real, honest thing. It’s like, why even raise children? Why raise a puppy? Why put so much care in something where you know destruction is part of the process?”
The Grammy-winner also calls himself “the new Tupac in a strange way.”
He explains, “I grew up similar. I didn’t have a mom in the Black Panthers, but my parents were very pro-black. Also, my mom made me go to performing arts high school.”
“She was like, ‘That’s where you need to be.'”
As for why his mom was adamant that he attend performing arts school, he explains, “Sometimes you have to play a role for people to understand you, even though you’re far more complex than any of that. Sometimes it’s really hard to simplify that so people can eat it.”
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