After the success of his second album Because The Internet, Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, reached new heights in 2016 with the release of his third album Awaken, My Love! The project was a large shift in the sound that was present on Because The Internet, as Glover had songs that featured him singing as opposed to rapping along with production that combined psychedelic soul, funk, and R&B. As of today, Awaken, My Love! is Glover’s most successful album and during a recent appearance on LeBron James’ HBO show The Shop, he explained what inspired him to create the album.
“Did you ever tap into something that is in you that you feel is kind of bad to win?” Childish Gambino asked the group that included Lebron and Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson. “Because I struggle with that. I am naturally petty. Like, extremely petty” He revealed that he made Awaken, My Love! to prove an unnamed critic wrong. “Awaken, My Love was literally because somebody said, ‘Oh, he can’t make a hit.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, not only will I make a hit, I won’t make a single video for it.’”
After its release in December 2016, Awaken, My Love became his highest-charting release after it debuted at No. 5 on the albums chart. The project also birthed Glover’s most successful single with “Redbone” which peaked at No. 12 on the singles chart and is currently 5X Platinum.
You can view the clip from the upcoming episode above. The full episode airs on March 4 at 9 am PST exclusively on UNINTERRUPTED’s YouTube channel.