In Donald Glover v. Childish Gambino, Glover Wins

A crucial component to stand-up comedy is vulnerability. In order to stand on a stage beneath lights and face a crowd that expects you to amuse them and then actually amuse them, a comedian can’t hide behind a persona. Sure, there are outliers such as Larry the Cable Guy, but the majority of comedians get personal on stage. For that reason, it’s difficult to buy into Donald Glover as both a comedian and a rapper.

Glover is a funny guy. He’s done stand up for years and was a writer for NBC’s 30 Rock before joining the cast of Community as jock Troy Barnes, whose antics with best friend Abed Nadir are often the highlights of the show. He’s undeniably hilarious. Wrapping your head around him rapping is a bit of a challenge.

While comedians are earnest and honest, rapping is all about the façade. Hip hop is all about “swag.” While many hip hop artists write about societal issues or genuine emotions, the vast majority of popular artists focus on releasing club bangers. They create music about extravagant lifestyles, never smile for pictures, and develop a persona to the extent of creating a fake name. Glover has already exposed too much of himself to be seen in this light.

Much of Glover’s comedy is self-deprecating. After his set, you like him but you don’t exactly think he’s cool. In fact, he doesn’t hesitate to tell you that he’s not. He’s a self-professed “black nerd,” which he states in a bit devoid of vernacular or slang, a rapper’s bread and butter.

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It’s hard to imagine this man as a hard rapper when he’s so good at dork comedy. His entire rap persona stems from a joke, according to an anecdote he told Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night with an overbite and a giggle.

But that doesn’t stop him from trying his best to come across as suave and intimidating in the music video for Childish Gambino’s viral hit “Freaks and Geeks.”

Those two sides of Glover – the side that jams to The Cranberries and the side whose “elephant” dick gets “some pussy that was insane” – don’t seem to mix. It has nothing to do with his skill as a rapper. He’s clearly a talented writer in both comedy and hip hop. His running around is not completely convincing. But the rapper personality is something he should work on, lest he’s on a late-night talk show, put on the spot to perform, and can’t turn on the cool fast enough, resulting in a minute of uncomfortable nervous rapping in which he can’t even look up. Oh, wait, that already happened.

The hubris that he puts in his lyrics clearly does not come from his genuine personality, as evidenced by his hesitancy and nervous twitching despite the impressive lyrics. It’s curious as to why Glover decided to take on a medium that seems so far from his personality. Maybe it’s just the freak and geek in him trying to be cool.

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