Photo: RCA Records
Donald Glover has released his final album under his Childish Gambino moniker.
On Friday, July 19, the rapper-actor debuted his fifth studio LP Bando Stone & The New World via RCA Records. The eclectic album serves as the soundtrack to his new film of the same name in theaters now. Snippets from the movie are scattered throughout Glover's 17-track album. He produced the majority of his project alongside esteemed producers like Ludwig Göransson, Dahi, Steve Lacy, Max Martin, Triangle Park, and others. Glover also calls on Chlöe, Flo Milli, Amaarae, Jorja Smith, Legend, Yeat, Fousheé, and Khruangbin to contribute to his final studio album.
Glover has been teasing his final body of work as Childish Gambino for the past few months. He started to prepare fans for the final act of his musical career after he dropped his previous album Atavista. In a new interview with The New York Times, Glover explained why he decided to leave his alter ego behind.
“It really was just like, ‘Oh, it’s done,’” he said. “It’s not fulfilling. And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore.”
“I want to have periods in my life, so it’s like I feel like Childish Gambino is a period that should come to a close," he continued. "I like endings. I look at my life like it’s something you should be able to paint. I think it is like performance art.”
Before the album dropped, Glover announced the plans for "The New World Tour" with Willow Smith and Amaarae. The international tour will kick off on August 11 in Oklahoma City and wrap up in the U.S. on October 3. After a three-week break, Glover will head overseas to Europe and Australia where the tour will continue into 2025.
Listen to the last Childish Gambino album below.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE