As one of a handful of artists who have garnered fame thanks to careers in both music and acting, Stone Mountain, Georgia emcee Childish Gambino (real name Donald Glover) recently shared his thoughts on being labeled both a rapper and an actor, during a recent interview.
While speaking with Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, Gambino stated that he does not want to be referred to as a rapper due to the opportunities that could be missed if he were to be given such a label. The “Community” star even went on to refer to his ability to be seen as more than a rapper as his “superpower.”
“I think a lot of people wanted to be like ‘Oh, he’s leaving to be a rapper.’ Which I think is dumb,” said Gambino. “Like I think that’s the stupidest thing you could probably ever do…I just don’t want to be labeled. I also don’t want—I don’t like working for other people. Lena Dunham she works for her. She writes that show [‘Girls’]. That’s her thing. I don’t think there’s a lot of people in my position—They gave me a show. They wouldn’t give a rapper a show. They wouldn’t give A$AP a show. I don’t want to be a rapper. When Kanye talks about the glass ceiling being there of like, ‘I can’t do anything because they see me as a rapper.’ Like that’s my superpower.”
Gambino later offered his thoughts on Hip Hop Titans, Jay Z and Diddy, two artists who have garnered success given their roles in rap. In his explanation of what led to the pair’s success outside of Hip Hop, the rapper referenced G.O.O.D. Music emcee Kanye West and the glass ceiling he referred to in his BBC Radio 1 interview.
“I’ve never really saw him as a rapper,” said Gambino, in regards to Diddy. “Also, those guys forced people to see them other ways. Whether it be like people are legit scared of them or they just made wise business moves. I don’t think Kanye’s like that. Kanye’s just like a creative…Diddy, I feel like—I met him last night. I look up to him. Cause he makes sure people remember certain things. And he makes sure things happen. But yeah, those guys—I feel like as an artist, as a creative, there’s not a lot of people who can do exactly what they want to do, in my opinion. Especially as a black male.”
With the release of his next studio album, because the internet, scheduled for release on December 10, Gambino has released a handful of records in the past month. This week alone the Georgia rapper released both “3005” and “Worldstar.” It’s currently unclear if either of the records will be featured on because the internet.
In addition to the release of his new album, Gambino is reportedly set to write, executive produce, and star in a new, thirty-minute television series on FX.
Gambino..my man!
Right after the paragraph about him not wanting to be labeled as a rapper, they refer to him as a rapper… nice writing.
cause he doesn’t want to labelled just a rapper.
I always thought the name “rapper” was corny
next charles hamilton
even this dude isnt as corny as that guy was
They wouldn’t give a rapper a show.
They wouldn’t give will smith a show. They wouldn’t give queen latifah a show. They wouldn’t give LL Cool J a show.
That statement was stupid. The line between acting and rapping has been blurred since the 80s.
You completely missed the point. The people you listed aren’t viewed as rappers. Their personalities and talent transcended their music. As a rapper, especially a black rapper, the aggression in the music rubs many of the white executives in other fields the wrong way.
He stats in the interview that Will isn’t viewed as “black” or a “Rapper” Some of you people are missing the whole point of his statement. No one with multiple talents wants to be pigeoned holed into just one of them and people shrug off their other talents just because he is a rapper. I honestly did this with Gambino at first “ahhh he’s a comedian with youtube videos, he can’t possible be a good rapper.”
obviously, but the statement itself wasn’t really correct. Ppl don’t view will smith as a rapper now, but when that show came out, he was. He said they’d never give a show to a rapper, but they did.
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They wouldn’t give Meth and Red a show. They wouldn’t give andre 3000 a show. They wouldn’t give eve a show. They wouldn’t give marky mark a show. They wouldn’t give ice cube a show. They wouldn’t give DMX a show. They wouldn’t give diddy a show. They wouldn’t give T.I. a show. They wouldn’t give mc serch a show. They wouldn’t give Flava Flav a show. They wouldn’t give Run a show. They wouldn’t give snoop a show. They wouldn’t give coolio a show. They wouldn’t give vanilla ice a show. They wouldn’t give mc hammer a show.
3-6 mafia
He’s talking about mainstream, cable TV shows, not VH1 reality shows fool
lol, the reality shows were just the icing
Dude he’s not talking about reality shows. A few of the people you mentioned had sitcoms, but they werent the creators and producers of those shows. Gambino’s show is “his” show that he created and has full control over.
uptil I looked at the paycheck which had said $6538, I didn’t believe that my mom in-law really making money in their spare time on their apple labtop.. there moms best frend haz done this 4 less than seventeen months and resently paid the dept on there home and bourt a top of the range Ford. see here now http://smal.ly/YntWC
but this device does not have the popular Apps that your friends use. I’ll take you to the Apple store later.” Well can I do anything with it Dad? “Well, you can type reports on it with Office.” Dad I’m only in Third grade.
if he didn’t want to be a rapper then he should stop going to hiphop morning shows and stop rapping, making and releasing hiphop/rap mix tapes ion said genre websites, IMO this fool was told that if he continued doing this, he wouldn’t get anymore acting gigs, fucking sellout!
You obviously missed the point.
Dude was an actor and comedian way before he was a rapper, so I don’t know how he’s selling out. You’re definitely missing the point he’s trying to make in that he doesn’t want to be pigeonholed into some sort of label that has a ceiling that wouldn’t allow him to explore other avenues.
This nigga got them beats: http://www.majorwithnomajor.com
Then what the fuck are you rapping for? I hate when people say they don’t want to be a rapper…but you’re doing rapper shit…. come check out my new music video “The Good Die Young 2K13” in 720/1080p HD and subscribe to “A rappers” channel lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vp8lj_Smpw
GIVE ME A CHANCE
Youtube is all about finding new artist, & though I been rapping for a while im still consider a new artist. I just want my music heard thats all, im not looking for no record deal, getting famous ‘r anything like that.! so please just spare a few sec. to check me out, & if you like what you heard please SUBSCRIBE so ill know you actually listen & support
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSNK0pm4eY
Childish Gamgayno
your the childish one
Problem is “people” always put others into a box and most of the time the people putting others into that box can’t do HALF of it
CORNY…
That’s the bro rape dude.
good cuz i never considered him a rapper anyway
misleading title
I never considered Donald Glover a rapper.
Donald Glover created Childish Gambino to rap, the Same way Sean Carter created Jay-z to rap, and P.Diddy is the hip hop brand for Sean Combs.
I think theses alias allows them to move through the business world a little easier. The same way Conglomerates create different Brands to target different audiences, i.e Gap, which owns Banana Republic and Old Navy, or Gucci Group, LVMH, Urban Outfitters ect.
The problem with Kanye, well, He’s Kanye and he cant separate himself from the Kanye that he has already created that is so well known. In a sense i think he sort of created his own glass ceiling.