Childish Gambino Clarifies (Sort of) New ‘Bando Storm’ Project, Slams Leakers

In a brief Instagram Live video Wednesday, Donald Glover — aka Childish Gambino — somewhat clarified the burst of unclear messaging about his new album and film that appeared on the Internet the previous night.

Several online posts stated that he has a project titled “Lithonia” arriving on July 2, which was accompanied by an official-looking graphic and a photograph of letters projected onto a wall simply stating “Bando is coming.” All of those things were consistent with the cryptic messaging he’s been dropping for the past few weeks via his Gilga Radio show and website — Lithonia is a city near Atlanta, setting of his popular television series; Bando is part of the title of his next album and film — but it was unclear where these messages came from, although some pointed to a post that appeared briefly on the streaming distributor Audiomack before being taken down.

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In a rambling talk Wednesday night on Instagram Live — that was frequently paused by poor connectivity — as he wandered around his beloved California farm, Glover said that what is arriving on July 2 is a single titled “Lithonia” that is apparently a prequel to the album. “That [information] leaked, it pissed me off,” he said. “I know who did it – Audiomack — no soup for you. You’re not getting the album, that’s the lane I’m in right now.”

Glover talked at length about how “we’re not having fun anymore,” like people did when he was a kid, adding that “the most fun we had this year was a fight in a song, which i thoroughly enjoyed,” referencing the musical battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. He had earlier mentioned as an aside that “feeding cows is fun,” and then said “this rollout is about FUN… this album is about fun. Like feeding cows is fun.”

Someone off-camera said something suggesting that Glover needed to get off the phone, and he abruptly ended the video.

The farm, near Ojai, California, is also the base for his Gilga creative studio.

Glover began this latest easter-egg-filled rollout in April, when he announced in a conversation on his Gilga project that he will be dropping two new Childish Gambino albums, the second of which will be the final album released under that name, a soundtrack to his forthcoming film, “Bando Storm and the New World” (no information has been released about the film).

The first album, an updated version of his surprise release “3.15.20,”which quietly dropped in March 2020, arrived in May under its original title, “Atavista.”

He has subsequently announced dates for “The New World Tour,” a massive trek through North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, launching in August.