Becoming Inhuman

This essay argues that Donald Glover has transformed his critique of hip hop mimesis into an overarching aesthetic that characterizes not only his mid-career music but also his work on nearly every creative aspect of Atlanta, particularly the show’s two pre-pandemic seasons. What began as an outside-looking-in satire of hip hop conglomeration has had to adapt to Glover’s becoming a major cultural figure in his own right. Glover’s extensive collaboration with filmmaker Hiro Murai on Atlanta and on music videos for Childish Gambino demonstrate that he has retained his irreverent perspective on the music industry. His recent work moves beyond the autobiographical to explore the conceptual and aesthetic affordances of becoming inhuman. Rather than pointing out the contradiction between stereotype and speaking subject, the “insider” Glover radically alienates the speaking subject from himself in order to comment on the fantasy structure that conducts how Black male celebrities are consumed.