Knowledge Drop: Here’s The Inspiration For Childish Gambino’s ‘Awaken, My Love!’ Cover Art

Three years ago today, Donald Glover released his third Childish Gambino studio album, “Awaken, My Love!”. The 11-track project drew critical acclaim for its combination of psychedelic soul, funk, and R&B influenced by Funkadelic and The Isley Brothers.

Even the cover art pays tribute to Funkadelic by taking inspiration from the artwork for the George Clinton-led group’s 1971 album, Maggot Brain:

As Genius contributor Lyric-dope points out, Glover previously mentioned the LP was “one of my favorite albums ever” in an interview with Amoeba Records.

“It used to give me nightmares when I was a kid,” he said about the Maggot Brain cover. “There’s a skull on the back, too, and I didn’t know what it was about, but my dad loved it, really loved it. He used to be like, ‘Eddie Hazel is the best guitarist ever, he’s better than Jimi [Hendrix].’”

The “Awaken, My Love!” cover is shot by New York City-based creative director Ibra Ake and features model Giannina Oteto wearing a headdress designed by Laura Wass, founder of WXYZ Jewelry. According to The New York Times, Wass used 157 tubes and 824 beads to create the headpiece.

Wass, who is also known for creating headpieces for Beyoncé and Erykah Badu, spoke about designing the “Awaken, My Love!” headdress in an April 2017 interview with Pigeons & Planes.

“The Childish Gambino album cover came about for me like as a total surprise,” she said, before explaining it was originally designed for another artist’s video that was never released. “It’s really the first time we’ve been featured on an album cover so prominently. Part of the power of the image is the ambiguity of this really intense moment and not quite knowing what that moment is.”

Prior to the release of the album, Glover teased the cover by hiding it in plain sight in “Juneteenth,” the ninth episode of his FX series, Atlanta:

He also wore a t-shirt with the cover photo during his September 2016 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

After debuting and peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, “Awaken, My Love!” later received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Urban Contemporary Album. Its second single, “Redbone,” reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

“Redbone” producer Ludwig Göransson previously broke down how the song was made:

Catch up on all the lyrics to Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” on Genius now.