5 things we learned from Donald Glover interviewing himself for Interview
He spoke about Atlanta, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, his music career, and more.
Donald Glover is the cover star for Interview's latest edition, and true to form, the rapper, actor, and artist decided on a format that would divide the internet into two fervently opposed camps. Rather than speaking to a fellow celebrity for the piece – the feature style Interview is famous for – Glover chose to be "interviewed" by himself.
It goes without saying that this is not really an interview in the traditional sense. Near the start of the piece, Glover says he chose to speak with himself as he felt most interviews ask the same questions: "This way I can get questions I usually don’t get asked."
It's a lofty standard to set right out of the gate for a feature that could have benefitted from lifing a few more cues from David Byrne's self-interview, a still-amusing take on the interview with an unfortunate sprinkle of blackface. Instead, the Glover interview pushes the inherent absurdity into the background in favor of attempts at guru-like reflections on the culture, Gloverish koans, and a few bits that approach genuine wisdom.
Still, for Glover fans it's a fairly comprehensive state of the union, covering his personal life, the upcoming TV show Mr. and Mrs Smith, his music career, and more. See below for a few highlights, and read the full interview here.
PEN15's Maya Erskin is replacing Pheobe Waller-Bridge in Glover's TV adaptation of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
"Yeah. She’s dope. It’s exciting. I really love the show. I’m writing the finale now."
He's farming now...
"I love farms. I love produce. We’ve got all these fruits, bees. Our cow is pregnant so we’ll have milk for a little while. It makes me happy."
...but music is still on the menu.
"I’ve been rapping a lot. Producing. It’s fun again. Doing features."
He considers the Childish Gambino album Because The Internet to be "the rap OK Computer"
"It’s prescient in tone and subject matter and it’s extremely influential. And I know no one’s gonna give me that until I’m dead. But it’s true."
Some thoughts on Joe Rogan and Dave Chappelle were shared
"A lot of people believe both of them are doing what they do in good faith. It’s not cynical. It’s not CNN or Fox. It doesn’t feel to most people like they’re trying to sell something. People are looking for other people to interact with in good faith. Because a lot of this rage is artificial. People have emotional diabetes and don’t even know it."