10 Things You Didn't Know About Donald Glover
4. His Favourite "Black Nerd" Is Carlton Banks
When he first began putting out music as Childish Gambino, one of Glover's main gimmicks was the fact he described himself as a "black nerd", integrating sophisticated pop culture and video game references into his music, rapping about feeling awkward and isolated rather than putting on a tough, aggressive persona. I mean, one of Gambino's songs (titled Eat Your Vegetables) is literally him rapping over music from the SNES game Donkey Kong Country.
It's for this reason Glover revealed his central "black nerd" inspiration, in the form of Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air's Carlton Banks, performed by Alfonso Ribeiro. According to Glover, Carlton is better than nerd alternative Urkel from Family Matters because he's less cartoonish than Urkel, frequently displaying his vulnerabilities.
This reasoning makes sense given Glover's early music was also known for being vulnerable, as he rapped about his frustrations and fragilities with sincerity.