Rapper/Actor/Comedian Donald Glover, also known as “Childish Gambino” has created a new hit series called Atlanta which premiered September 6, 2016. The show revolves around a young man helping his cousin launch his rap career. Most skeptics might be cringing at the idea of another drama series based on hip hop music especially since the popular show Empire has been deemed as “a black musical soap opera”. However, this according to Tvline.com, Glover has said, “Atlanta is a sometimes-quiet, contemplative series, never manufacturing spectacle or over-the-top drama in order to propel its narrative”. In other words, viewers should not expect any “over the top” dramatic musical scenes or fight scenes such as the few displayed in Empire. With that being said, there’s a huge reason why we need Atlanta.
In a recent interview, Glover said the script was written by a staff of all black writers. This is important because the realistic views of hip hop and drug culture that will be displayed. For instance, the main character is a drug dealer who lives in a house. If the show was written by someone who had no idea of what urban culture is really like, the main character would be a drug dealer living in a run down crack house. Glover spoke on this issue in an interview with Vulture.com saying ,“I wanted to show white people, you don’t know everything about black culture”.
Glover is in the process of doing a promotional tour for the show and he even mentioned that an album will be released later in September. You can check out Atlanta on September 6, 2016 in FX. I know I will be watching, will you?
BLACK&GIFTED 