ludwig-goransson

Childish Gambino Shared His Instagram Close Friends List, Which Only Has Four People On It

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Actor Donald Glover — aka musician Childish Gambino — shared a glimpse of his uber-exclusive Close Friends list on Instagram, and in so doing, may have given fans a clue about his next creative endeavors. The main thing he’s got in the works right now is a film, Bando Stone & The New World, along with its soundtrack, from which he’s dropped one single, “Lithonia.” Perhaps the four names included on his Close Friends are collaborators on one or the other.

The only four people in Donald’s Close Friends are: composer Ludwig Göransson, who has collaborated with Glover extensively in the past between gigs scoring films like Black Panther and its sequel, Wakanda Forever, Creed I and II, and Turning Red, and shows like The Mandalorian; record producer Michael Uzowuru, who’s written and produced for Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, SZA, and Vince Staples, among others (including Gambino); and singers and former Uproxx cover stars Chlöe and Foushée. Glover worked with the former on his show Swarm, while Foushée would be a new collaborator, although her first brush with fame came from a rendition of Glover’s song “Redbone” on The Voice. Just what each of these folks will be doing with Gloverbino remains to be seen, but it’s probably a safe bet they contributed in some way to the Bando Stone soundtrack.

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After releasing Bando Stone — the film and the album — on July 19, Glover’s hitting the road for his New World Tour.

Childish Gambino Teases New Song With Producer Ludwig Goransson

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Childish Gambino is in album mode. The multi-talented Donald Glover has been focusing on TV, but he’s rededicated himself to his Gambino persona for a brand new release. The details surrounding the album have been scarce, but the more time passes, the musical snippets fans have gotten to hear. The latest, teased by Gambino himself, is the most exciting yet. It teases a fresh new sound, and involves his long time collaborator, Ludwig Goransson.

Childish Gambino hopped on Instagram on June 9 to share a video of him and Goransson in the studio together. The former can been playing playing tracks back, while Goransson can be seen sitting in a chair next to him. “Everything now is like— y’know, less people play instruments,” Gambino tells his producer. “So like everybody’s just using their voice and they’re filling it up with a bunch of reverb.” The track is a rebuke to the “reverb” Gambino is talking about. Very little of the track is heard during the video, but it does have a funky drum pattern and synths. The implementation of the latter sounds like a hybrid of the styles that Childish Gambino showcased on his previous two albums.

Read More: Childish Gambino “Atavista” Is Here: What Has Changed Since “3.15.20”?

Childish Gambino’s New Song Has A Funky Instrumental

There’s a cinematic quality to the instrumental, which makes perfect sense given Gambino’s intent. He announced that the upcoming album, Bando Stone and the Free World, will be a soundtrack to the film of the same name. Gambino preciously teased this filmic concept with 2013’s Because the Internet, which was accompanied by a screenplay. It helps that Gambino, as Donald Glover, has appeared in several big films and shows. It helps even more than Ludwig Goransson has become one of the most revered and emulated film composers of the last decade.

There’s extra hype surrounding this upcoming Childish Gambino album. It’s been teased as the last to feature the Gambino moniker, which is something Goransson has been cagey about discussing during interviews. “If he makes a statement like that, I think he’s a serious person,” the Oscar winner told The Wrap. “Music is such a part of his life, so I’m sure he’s going to invent some new way of doing music or art or whatever it is. But if he says he’s done with Childish Gambino — he’s done.” Goransson did note, however, how much he enjoys experimenting with Glover. “I never know what to expect,” he gushed. “On a new project, on a new song. It can go anywhere.”

Read More: Summer Walker Praised For Stunning Feature On Childish Gambino’s “Sweetest Thang”

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Why Are Gamers Upset About Ludwig Göransson’s Oscars Acceptance Speech?

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In a relatively short time, 39-year-old Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson has become a favorite of both hip-hop fans and geek fandoms online thanks to his expansive oeuvre. Since 2011, he’s garnered attention from the former for his production work alongside Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, and more. Meanwhile, fans of sci-fi epics and superhero movies know him for his contributions to scores for massive multimedia franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars.

However, there’s one group that isn’t too happy with him this week: Gamers. A search for his name on social media outlets today would surface a roiling debate over Göransson’s comments on Sunday during his Oscars acceptance speech. After receiving the award for Best Original Score for Oppenhaimer (his second win after receiving one in 2018 for Black Panther), he thanked his parents “for giving me guitars and drum machines instead of video games.”

This has obviously riled the gaming community, who view themselves as oft-put-upon despite the gaming industry’s record worldwide profits and popularity. There’s probably a whole 2000-word article to be written about why they feel this way, but in general, they seem salty that Göransson appeared to deride their hobby in his thanks to his parents. Since I started off talking about hip-hop, there’s no better example to use here than the homie Mega Ran, a stalwart of the so-called “nerdcore” subgenre of rap, who called the comments “an unnecessary bit of shade.”

Over on Twitter, the discourse has gotten heated, with many gamers rightly pointing out that video games have featured or inspired some of the most recognizable music in pop culture, from the Mario theme to the chiptune subgenre that reproduces the 8- and 16-bit sounds of millennial nostalgia for original works.

Of course, there’s no speaking for Mr. Göransson either way, but whether he was legitimately putting games down or just joking about his parents’ refusal to let him have something many, many other ’90s kids begged their parents to have (many to no avail), one positive to take away from this whole kerfuffle is an appreciation of the wide range of musical styles in video game music. Maybe as a mea culpa, he can compose the music for a triple-A game or two, just to prove he can.