Trivia / Childish Gambino

• Black Sheep Hit: "Redbone", his second-highest charting song to date (behind "This Is America"), is more of a funk/R&B song, compared to much of his other singles which tended to be Alternative Rap.
• Corpsing: Gambino audibly cracks up a bit at the end of the "anallin' anyone is the plan for the evening" line in "LES".
• Cowboy Be Bop At His Computer: The Allmusic review of because the internet, while largely positive, seems to have been written under the impression that "Sweatpants" (i.e. the song designed to demonstrate what a spoiled Jerkass The Boy is) is autobiographical.
• Creator Backlash: He doesn't seem to be very proud of his earliest works, saying that he was hiding behind gimmicks on Sick Boi and Poindexter, and that the even earlier (and rarer) album The Younger I Get was "decrepit Drake." He's also expressed some regrets about Camp's rather bitter, paranoid atmosphere.
• Creator Breakdown: because the internet certainly feels like this at certain points, especially with the deliberate line-blurring between Gambino and his character, The Boy, which raises the question of whether or not Gambino is speaking from the heart or from the mask, especially with poignant moments such as in "III. life: the biggest troll" where he outright says "I don't know who I am anymore."
• Doing It for the Art: All of his releases up until Camp were released for free.
  • The screenplay that accompanies because the internet is a case of this too. Gambino had planned to follow up his short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons with the feature length bte film.
• Fan Community Nickname: 'Campers.' He also refers to his female fans as 'Gambino Girls' in several songs.
• "Sesame Street" Cred: Glover actually appeared on Sesame Street as the musician LMNOP. He also appeared on an episode of Regular Show (though Regular Show, like a lot of Cartoon Network in-house programming, is only a kids' cartoon because the humor/subject matter isn't over-the-top enough for [adult swim]).
• Method Acting: Bino acted as The Boy for the month or so leading up to the release of because the internet, even wearing the same outfit every day.
• No Budget: Reportedly recorded at least one of the I Am Just a Rapper mixtapes in his bathroom using the internal mic on a MacBook.
• Reclusive Artist: He became increasingly reclusive in his internet presence after the release of because the internet and his departure from Community. His social media (except Facebook) has been blacked out. He also rarely makes public appearances, in one case missing a music festival appearance for no apparent reason. The few appearances he does make are usually to promote something specific, such as the Magic Mike sequel.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Donald originally auditioned to be a Saturday Night Live cast member around the time that the show (and other shows) were on hiatus due to the late 2007-early 2008 Writers' Guild strike, as Lorne Michaels was looking for someone to play Barack Obama (and fill the void left behind by Maya Rudolph). Sadly, Glover (and MADtv's Jordan Peele) didn't make the cut, as Lorne decided to look inward in his cast and pick Fred Armisen, causing a lot of complaints over Fred not being the right race to play him. SNL wouldn't have an actual skinny black guy^note SNL also passed up the chance to have Kenan Thompson be Obama, with Kenan even offering to lose weight for the role play Obama until Jay Pharoah came on the show in 2010, though Pharoah didn't play Obama until season 38 (2012-2013 season, which was when Fred Armisen retired his Obama impression as it was his last year on the show).
  • There was a huge online push to have him cast as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), but it didn't happen. On the bright side, though, it was a comment from someone who opposed the push ("There aren't black kids like Peter Parker") that inspired EP, generally considered to be the point at which he grew the beard and began getting wider recognition. He eventually ended up cast as Miles Morales on Disney XD's Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors, and was then cast as Aaron Davis (Miles' comic uncle) in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He even says that he has a nephew living nearby.
  • "earth: the oldest computer" originally featured Macklemore. His contribution's removal (and replacement by Azealia Banks) came so late that the original pressings of because the internet came with a corrections card.
  • "The Night Me and Your Mama Met" was supposed to be a full track, with a full version being performed at PHAROS, but ended up being a guitar instrumental instead.
  • He was offered the lead role of Cassius Green in Sorry to Bother You but was forced to turn it down because of his commitment to Solo. However, he did recommend the eventual actor of the role, his Atlanta co-star Lakeith Stanfield.
  • He was working on an animated series for FX about Deadpool, but FX, citing “creative differences,” announced that the project had been canceled.