“Jack of all trades, master of none.”
The message behind this cliché is simple, yet poignant: spend your time honing your skills in an area in which you excel, as opposed to spreading your time between many activities at which you are moderately capable.
This message has permeated society to a monstrous extent; in the modern age, people believe that they must have one career, one hobby, one path for their lives to take, lest they be doomed to irredeemable failure.
Donald Glover has rejected this reality, becoming an actor, producer, comedian, rapper, writer, and so much more. The world has become his medium, life his canvas. Donald Glover has not restricted himself to a label that defines the extent of his creative capabilities. He is not a painter, a comic, an author, or a musician. He is an artist. He exists to churn out an endless stream of creativity, regardless of medium, form, or appeal.
Glover has not, and will not, split his creations into separate categories based on genre or audience. Everything he creates is a part of his overarching artistic collection, an interwoven web of innovative construction that plays off of every other part. Glover’s raps reference his comedy, which references his acting, which references his rapping, so on and so forth. Glover does not hide any aspect of his career from any one of his audiences. Rather, he attempts to recognize and consolidate all of his art as integral parts of himself.
Despite the fact that Glover seems so spread out in his pursuit of new mediums and modes of expression, none of his creations are anything less than masterful. His writing, rapping, and comedy all belie his skill with wordplay, and are never amateur or mediocre. Glover tries his hardest on every new activity, releasing only the best he can possibly offer.
To quote Glover in an interview with the AV Club, “I try to be me to the utmost.” This is the secret to Glover’s continuous, unique, monumental success. Glover does not try to stifle his creativity in any manner, by restricting himself to one specific medium or mode of artistic expression. Instead, Glover tries only to be himself, and it is this willingness to accept oneself for everything one is that allows Glover to be so boundlessly creative. Glover exists with no restriction, which allows his consciousness to flow freely and inspire all forms of his art.
Glover has truly proven himself to be jack of all trades, master of all.
Works Cited
Ake, Ibra. “Childish Gambino.” The Nation, 2016, https://www.thenation.com/article/the-donald-glover-experiment/.
“Donald Glover.” HighsNobiety, Titel Media GMBH, 2016, https://www.highsnobiety.com/2016/10/22/donald-glover-lando-calrissian-han-solo-star-wars-standalone-movie/.
Zauderer, Jordan. “Donald Glover: An Inspiration.” Odyssey, 1 February 2016, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/donald-glover-an-inspiration.
Glover is great. He can do it all. He won those awards last week for his TV show, has done comedy, and has done great things in the music world too. No one can ever really tell what he’ll do next, or when he’ll step down from creating content. That might be some of what makes him special, that he’s so good at stuff that we almost don’t know what to expect next.