This campaign is based on the new chapter of your career, which involves a lot of different things you’re doing with Gilga. What defines this new creative chapter for you? What’s your mindset like?
I would define it as a new world. I got bored with people saying, like, “This world is shit.” It’s kind of like when people say, “Oh, this traffic is so bad.” I’m like, “You are traffic.” You can’t sit there and be like, “Oh man, the traffic was horrible. I’m sorry, I was late.” You are traffic. You’re in it. Without you, there would be no traffic. So if you’re sitting here being like, “The world is shit,” it’s like, you are the world. You have to take that responsibility. So I focused on making sure that everything I’m making is shit that I wish was in the world.
What kind of music are you having the most fun making right now? What kinds of things are exciting you the most in the studio?
I like it when something is naturally functional. I used to try and be like, “Oh, this is just a good song and I like it.” But now I think functionality is key. Because it’s so easy to make a bunch of stuff. And I think back in the day, it was a lot easier to be like, “I made this!” And it was harder to make stuff, so people would be like, “Oh, this chair, you can’t really sit in it. But otherwise, people wouldn’t have made this chair.” It’s kind of like art, where it became, like, “Yeah, this is a pointless piece, which is the point.” And now I feel like, because it’s so much easier to make everything, when something is actually truly functional and it’s easy to get to, I love that. I love it when we make something and I’m like, “Oh, I know exactly what this is for. This is for Monday Night Football.” [Laughs.] You know, that kind of thing. Like, “This is for this kind of Instagram post.” I like all that shit.
At one point, you were playing with the idea of ending your work as Childish Gambino, and then it seemed like you reconsidered it and there might be new Gambino music on the way. Can you give any clarity on that?
I feel like it’ll be clear sooner rather than later. It’d be better for people to just tune in, I suppose. But I’m trying harder to not be cryptic. Tyler is always, like, “You’re so cryptic.” But I’m like, “I’m really not.” I just like suspense, I guess. I think it makes stuff better. But that’s just me.
So is there music coming somewhat soon?
You’ll see. [Laughs.] You’ll see. I know that’s cryptic, but I swear to God… You know, I don’t do this shit for money and shit. There’s a famous Cam’ron clip that me and my brother love. Cam is on the radio talking to Mase or somebody, and he says, “Man, I do this because I’m nice. I don’t need the money. I do this because I’m nice, man.” And I’m like, yeah, I do this because I’m nice. I don’t think I’d ever stop, because of like… I always liked it because I liked it. I never did it because it was like, man, this is a good way to get put on or something. I like the feeling of it. I do this because I’m nice. In a certain way, I think that makes me old school.
