Are you a Childish Gambino?

MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE

Childish Gambino just dropped another gem of a music video and not enough people are talking about it.

Maybe some of us are still reeling from the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef. Maybe Taylor Swift lifted her pinky finger and the world stopped to take notice. Or maybe this is just how Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, operates; excellence under the radar.

Regardless, Gambino has found a way to perfectly balance artistry with commercial accessibility. Between his films and his music, he infuses historical and contemporary commentary into pop sensibilities in a way that only the masters have done it before him.

Tupac was one of those masters. He was the first artist I saw in real time take deep, complicated social issues and flip them into hit songs. Songs like Changes and Dear Mamma are the first that come to mind, but there are many in Pac’s discography.

Director Christopher Nolan is another master that comes to mind. With movies like Dark Knight, Inception, and of course, Oppenheimer, Nolan also has the distinct capability of capturing commercial success on top of deep artistry.

I’m not saying that Childish Gambino is Tupac or Christopher Nolan, but I am saying he’s operating in that same space.

And that’s what I want us to learn from this. There’s a balancing act that’s possible. And if this is done right, you’re able to achieve a level of artistry that comforts your soul while still speaking to a broad enough audience to make it accessible.

CLICK IMAGE TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY

I remember standing outside of the gallery after attending an exhibition by visual artist Rajni Perera. At that time, Rajni was on the cusp of exploding (she has officially exploded now) but wasn’t quite there. That show put her over the top.

But standing outside the gallery, me and another gentleman were speaking about how blown away we were with Rajni’s show. I asked what he thought made the difference. We had both been following Rajni for years, so we had references. The gentlemen turned to me and said something I’ll always remember.

“She let us in this time.”

That was it. Rajni let us in. And without saying another word, I knew exactly what he meant. He meant Rajni had connected. She found that balance that we’re all searching for, or we all should be searching for, as artists.

The first time Childish Gambino found that balance was with his TV series Atlanta. If you blend Curb Your Enthusiasm with Boondocks, you’ll begin to understand what Atlanta was all about.

The next time Gambino really captured the world’s attention more loudly was with his music video This Is America. It has to be one of the most iconic videos ever made. The commentary is deep though the lyrics are sparse. It’s a song that must be accompanied by the video for it to make any sense at all, yet it trended for days and there are more think pieces and meaning breakdown videos than I can count.

How can we mimic this? I’m not sure there’s so much of a formula as there is a feeling. An instinct. The only common thread I see between Tupac, Nolan, and Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) is that they layer their stories.

There’s a surface story that you can follow and enjoy without needing to get knee deep in thought. But if you want to go deep, there are more than enough layers for you to peel away.

The other common piece is that there always seems to be a connection to current culture. When these masters are creating, they’re creating for their time. They are speaking the language of the present.

I’ve been conscious of creating this balance with my novels. After my first book, I took a step back and saw ways I could’ve made that story more accessible without losing creativity. The first time I feel I executed that level of balance was with my third novel, Boys and Girls Screaming.

You should be conscious of this balance, as well. This is how we grow our readership and attract more of an audience into our world.