Childish Gambino is a mastermind

On Thursday, October 25, SUBOG’s Fall Concert is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. in Jorgensen. As SUBOG announced last week on Facebook, Childish Gambino, which is the stage name of actor/rapper Donald Glover, will be entertaining with his personal, quick-witted and powerful rap songs.

Until recently, Glover wasn’t primarily known for his music. He first gained fame after he graduated from college, when he joined the writing staff of Tiny Fey’s hit NBC show “30 Rock” in 2006. Three years of award-winning comedy writing later, and after he got to enjoy being part of the show’s Emmy wins, Glover joined the cast of another NBC comedy, “Community.”

Though it’s never topped the TV charts in terms of popularity, a cult following and raves from critics for “Community” continued to raise Glover’s profile. As former football scholarship jock-turned-community college student Troy Barnes, Glover was one of the show’s biggest surprises from its first episodes. His work on the show, especially with Danny Pudi as Troy’s best friend Abed, led to a growing fanbase for Glover. In 2010, when news of recasting for the role of Peter Parker in the then-just-announced reboot “The Amazing Spider-Man” hit the Internet, a campaign called “#donald4spiderman” went viral to the extent that comic-book legend Stan Lee wanted Glover to audition for the role. 

Now in its fourth season (and unfortunately on its last legs), “Community” has given Glover a lot to be thankful for; NBC just rewarded the young actor with his own television project, to start when the sitcom ends (probably no later than next May).

Of course, Glover’s also well known as Childish Gambino. He’s been releasing mixtapes under that name for a few years now, but he started to gain traction in the hip-hop world with his three 2010 mixtapes. “I Am Not A Rapper,” its sequel, and “Culdesac” blew up mostly on their own quality, though Glover’s day job definitely didn’t hurt when it came to extra publicity.

With his early 2011 “EP,” Glover dropped his first huge track, “Freaks and Geeks.” The song was good enough to snag him a Champs Sports commercial, and over the summer and fall of 2011, off the strength of his first official single, “Bonfire,” his name continued to grow until his first retail release, “Camp,” was released last November 15. “Camp” reached #11 on the Billboard 

“Camp” took Glover’s rapping in a different, intensely personal direction touched upon in mixtape songs like “Difference.” On the album’s opening track “Outside,” he spoke of his troubled upbringing, and later tracks were in-depth about heartbreak and confusion. And on “All The Shine,” he rapped a line that describes his music: “I ain’t the coolest, but I know I got passion.”

Glover also does stand-up, often as part of his live shows. His first Comedy Central special debuted in March 2010.

Tickets to see Childish Gambino at Jorgensen go on sale October 2 at jorgensen.uconn.edu starting at 10 a.m. for UConn students. General admission floor seats are $20 for students and $30 for non-students, while balcony seating is $15 for students and $25 for non-students. General audience tickets, for non-UConn students, go on sale to the public October 3rd at the Jorgensen box office and online.