Childish Gambino's 'Me and Your Mama' turns 10: the day he stopped rapping
Childish Gambino released "Me and Your Mama" on 10 November 2016, a funk and gospel song with no rap on it, five years after Pitchfork gave his debut album Camp a 1.6. A week later came "Redbone", which won a Grammy in 2018 and now has over two billion Spotify streams.
By Riffiter
Ten years ago today, on 10 November 2016, Childish Gambino released "Me and Your Mama". Zane Lowe premiered it on Apple's Beats 1, and the song had no rap on it at all: a slow choir intro, then a heavy funk band, gospel backing vocals and Donald Glover screaming over the top. It was the first look at the album "Awaken, My Love!", which came out on 2 December.
The 1.6
Five years earlier he was a rapper. His debut album Camp came out in November 2011, and on 2 December Pitchfork gave it a 1.6. Ian Cohen called it "one of the most uniquely unlikable rap records of this year (and most others)", and said "Heartbeat" could have been the tenth-funniest song on 808s & Heartbreak.
The record outlived the review anyway: "Heartbeat" now has over a billion Spotify streams, per kworb's count of Spotify plays.
A dome in the desert
In early September 2016 Glover played the new album in a dome at Joshua Tree, California, at shows he called Pharos. XXL reported around 2,500 people a night, a dome about 150 feet wide with 360-degree projections, and phones locked in Yondr pouches for the whole set. Microsoft helped film it in VR, and the VR video of "Me and Your Mama" came out after the song.
It was not the first time anyone heard the song. Glover had played it live at Bonnaroo in June 2015. November 10 was the release.
Then Redbone
A week later, on 17 November, came "Redbone". It started slowly: it entered the Hot 100 at No. 75. After Jordan Peele used it early in Get Out in February 2017, it climbed back, reached the top 20 that summer and peaked at No. 12 in August 2017, his first top-20 hit. On 28 January 2018 it won the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance. At the same ceremony Glover performed "Terrified", not "Redbone".
| Song | Released | Spotify streams (8 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Redbone | 17 Nov 2016 | 2.11 billion |
| Heartbeat | 2011 (Camp) | 1.03 billion |
| Me and Your Mama | 10 Nov 2016 | 906 million |
"Awaken, My Love!" debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and Pitchfork gave it a 7.2.
The vote
Pitchfork's 1.6 for Camp still stands. Riffiter listeners give the album 3.7 out of 5 from 142 ratings. Was Pitchfork wrong? Rate Camp and "Me and Your Mama" on Riffiter.