Donald Glover continued to tease out the next Childish Gambino era on Monday night (April 23) on the latest episode of his Gilga Radio show, during which he premiered fresh tracks with Ye and Kid Cudi.
About 40 minutes into the 70-minute episode, following a spin of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Obsessed,” a voice came on proclaiming, “If Childish Gambino wants to do something in the hood, you let him do it,” before the premiere of the track, which appears to be titled “Say Less.”
Over a frenetic beat, Glover as Gambino raps, “Uh, I got the bands, the rover/ Reddiest Octobers, the Goku comeback/ I thought I told you/ The flow viral, brain is like pyro/ My phone on silent, how the f–k would I know?/ The aviators got me lookin’ like Five-0/ You ain’t even touched a GQ best dressed/ Sty got ’em cheatin’ on a taste test/ They like rap more, I’m like ‘Say less.’”
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), drops in on the second verse of the song that bounces along on a video game-like bed of synths and drums. “Now rule number one, ‘Thou shalt not steal’/ The flow, the clothes, the sex appeal, yeah/ Now this is my commandment, died and rebrand it/ Three days later, walk in the Louis sandals/ Duckin’ paparazzi, they would call it a scandal,” Ye spits. “But n—as would love to watch me, really, I’m like Randall/ I’d rather have no regrets, but, yo/ My agent just called and said ‘Yo, say less.’”
Ye goes on to note that fans have been waiting for the sequel to his Watch the Throne joint album with Jay-Z as well as a passing reference to the meltdown of his lucrative deal with Adidas, which dropped West in 2022 after he went on a monthslong antisemitic spree of interviews and statements denigrating the Jewish people in the midst of a historic rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States.
“N—as waiting on the throne, like ‘Hov, say, ‘Yes,’” he continues. “I took my shoes out the store, they the new Payless/ That’s the new God flow, but I don’t pray less.” The rappers trade lines in the third verse, with Gambino dropping references to disgraced former Empire star Jussie Smollett’s false racist attack claims (“Got this rope ’round my neck like I’m J. Smollett”), Warriors forward Draymond Green’s choking of Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in November as well as the line, “You talk too much, you need a therapist” before Ye humbly proclaims, “I’m more like John Lennon, he more like Don Lemon.”
The second new song, featuring Cudi, appears to be called “Warlords,” and debuted an hour into the show, as well as a week after Cudi seemed to diss Gambino. That prompted the rapper/actor to make a plea for peace on last week’s Gilga Radio episode, on which he said, “Kid Cudi, if you got a problem, I’m not here for the beef. Just talk to me.”
Over a staticky beat, Gambino’s AutoTuned voice whisper raps, “You don’t get it, we gon’ kill you, I don’t f–k with you/ God of the universe, cream of the planеt Earth/ F–k love, f–k your life/ F–k a siren, I hеar screams every night no light/ Tell me the edge, I’m on the edge, I need a million/ Ain’t nobody better flip it to a billion/ Tell me the edge, I’m on the edge, I need a million.”
Cudi’s verse is similarly buried under the hand-clap rhythm, as he raps the chorus, “Make way for the warriors/ Here it comes, here it comes, ain’t used to runnin’/ Can’t hide from the warriors/ Make way for the warriors/ Here it comes, here it comes, ain’t used to runnin’/ Can’t hide from the warriors.”
Glover, who made a surprise appearance in Tyler, the Creator’s set during the first weekend of this year’s Coachella, recently announced that he’s prepping two albums, Atavista and Bando Stone & the New World soundtrack, which he said will be his final Gambino projects.
Listen to the “Say Less” and “Warlords” previews below.
