Bobbyisms: Donald Glover delivers the goods on new EP

I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. And it's because I appreciate random things so much that I love where the name Childish Gambino — the hip-hop persona of actor/comedian Donald Glover — came from.

Born in California but raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Glover attended New York University, graduating with a degree in dramatic writing in 2006. He has since gone on to become a member of Derrick Comedy — the team that wrote, produced, and starred in Mystery Team — a regular writer for NBC's 30 Rock and a star of NBC's Community.

Glover is a quadruple threat: his performances on television seem effortless and genuine; his writing for 30 Rock is testament to his gift with words; and as Childish Gambino, Glover is a masterful rapper, dropping articulate, insightful wit in each track.

His fourth threat is charm; if you've seen any of his appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, you know what I mean. Charm can be a big threat when the individual is that charismatic. Glover began self—recording and releasing his own albums and mixtapes on the Internet as far back as 2008. Culdesac, his third album (and fifth release), was made available through the website culdesac-album.com and started creating buzz about Glover's musical prowess and "Fuck Rap Cool" message.

But it was fundamental in generating enough talk for SPIN Magazine to name Glover one of their five artists to watch in March, just in time for him to release his latest untitled EP on his website on March 8.

"Music was my side chick, but now we're moving in together," he begins on Be Alone, the opening track. He's referring to his efforts and interests in hip-hop, despite some critics from the past alluding to his lack of talent as an emcee. "I'm someone they admire/Set the game ablaze, I'm an Arcade Fire."

This EP is a brilliant listen, with rhymes going from playful namedropping — like the second track, Freaks And Geeks: "I have worked all winter, I will not fail summer/In the back of a bush like Gavin Rossdale's drummer." — to continuing the trend began with Culdesac in opening himself up more about his past — from My Shine: "Gambeezy make it work something, let me check the syntax/ Don't add an 'eezy' to my name 'cause it has never been that."

On March 16, Glover hosted the mtvU Woodie Awards live from South By Southwest in Austin, TX, and then performed there on March 19 as a part of his IAMDONALD tour, highlighting all of his talents: beginning with a period of stand-up comedy, viewing a reel of sketch comedy, and then a Childish Gambino set to round out the evening. Luckily, that tour is coming to The Opera House in Toronto on May 16, with tickets available for $18 from Ticketweb.com.

Glover's records are fresh, interesting hip-hop that are more than worth the effort of downloading them for free. Visit IAmDonald.com and culdesacalbum.com to receive a free copy of these records, and check Glover out on Twitter @DonaldGlover and on tour in Toronto.

And for the latest news, reviews and downloads, follow @FSU_Bobbyisms on Twitter or check out the Music Recommendations thread in our FSU social network. Fuck rap cool, I'm out of words.