Donald Glover Explains Why He's Putting His Childish Gambino Stage Name to Rest: 'It's Not Fulfilling'

It's almost time to say goodbye to Childish Gambino.

The actor/musician, whose real name is Donald Glover, opened up to The New York Times in a July 18 interview about why he plans to retire his stage name following the release of his new album, Bando Stone & the New World.

"It really was just like, 'Oh, it’s done,'" the 40-year-old Community star told the outlet. "It’s not fulfilling. And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore."

Glover began working in both comedy and music in the mid-2000s, though he released a couple of projects under the name "mc DJ" before first using the Childish Gambino moniker for his 2008 mixtape, Sick Boi. He's previously revealed the persona came from a Wu-Tang Clan name generator.

According to the NYT, the "Redbone" performer's decision to put the stage name to rest is also inspired by the decreasing success of full-length albums, touring difficulties, life as a father to three sons (Legend, Drake and Donald Glover III) and his film and television projects as well as his multimedia company Gilga.

Rapping as Childish Gambino has long been a temporary plan for Glover. "I want to have periods in my life," he told TODAY in 2015. "I feel like Childish Gambino is a period that should come to a close. I like endings."

Elsewhere in the interview, however, the "This Is America" artist clarified that he "always" wants to "do music."

Glover officially announced the endpoint of Childish Gambino was in sight during his headlining set at the 2017 Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City, telling the crowd at the time, "I'll see you for the last Gambino album."

It's possible he changed his mind since then, as his fourth studio album, 3.15.20, was released in March 2020 before a reworked version, titled Altavista, dropped earlier this year.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Now, Glover is gearing up to release Bando Stone & the New World, his fifth official album, on July 19. He'll support the album with a world tour, kicking off in the U.S. on Sunday, Aug. 11, at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City and wrapping in Chicago at United Center on Thursday, Oct. 3.

"Success to me is, honestly, being able to put out a wide-scale album that I would listen to," he told the NYT in the new interview. "For this album, I really wanted to be able to play big rooms and have big, anthemic songs that fill those rooms, so that people feel a sense of togetherness."