“You’re always a kid,” he said. “I feel like that’s part of the Childish Gambino story. If you’re doing it right, you should always be less childish and more childlike.”

Last month, the Grammy- and Emmy-winning polymath dropped his final album (which will also be a film) as Childish Gambino, “Bando Stone and the New World” — capping a genre-bending musical journey that yielded six albums. For Glover, a Stone Mountain native, that era was conceived and nourished in the early aughts as a budding creative who frequently traveled to Atlanta in hopes of making art that made him feel seen. Now, with a show at State Farm Arena on Monday, he’ll return to the city that turned that into reality.

GREG NOIRE

GREG NOIRE

The AJC talked to Glover about closing that chapter of his career and his upcoming show:

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Q: How does it feel to be done with the Childish Gambino era?

A: The day (the album) came out, there was a great weight off my shoulders in a certain way where I was like, ”Oh, now I can move freely.” I don’t feel like I have to do anything in that arena anymore, which is so nice. It felt like when I was in college in the week before Thanksgiving, and there’s just nothing to do. You’re just sitting there and thinking, “Oh, maybe I’ll just watch a bunch of movies.”

Q: Does this mean you won’t make music anymore?

A: I really do make music just for fun. Music don’t make nobody no money. It’s not that industry anymore. A lot of my gripes on this album are about the industry. The industry of it is (expletive). The music is beautiful and amazing, but anything that’s industrialized is going to lose its soul on some level, so I just don’t want to make industrialized music anymore. I’ll always make music. I’ll put out a record. I don’t know how or with who. It’s not going to be under Childish Gambino anymore. I feel like that ship has passed.

Pavielle Garcia

Pavielle Garcia

Q: What role did Atlanta play in the Childish Gambino story?

A: Atlanta, when I was growing up, was always like a cultural mecca, but I don’t think it was necessarily recognized as such for a long time. I remember Freaknik, I remember the Olympics coming, and hearing people say, “This is a special place.” I leave that place, and I’m like, “Oh, I thought the world was like that.” I feel like in this (Childish Gambino) story, I wanted to be who I was in this place where it felt like maybe there wasn’t room for that, but I think there is room for that. There always was.

Q: How does it feel to perform in Atlanta?

A: The first time I performed there, my cousin, who (I) hadn’t seen in years, showed up. I hadn’t seen him in so long. That’s the feeling I always get from being in Atlanta. Even when I’m shooting there, there’s always going to be a tinge of nostalgia that’s always going to be a part of how you navigate that space. I always feel like, “Oh, I’m home.” But, you know, (performing there) makes it more special. I’m getting to be and do and bring this back to Atlanta because a lot of this was for Atlanta. Atlanta made me who I was and who I am, in a lot of ways.

Jeff Watkins

Jeff Watkins

Q: Now I’m thinking about this photo we have of you from working at Shakespeare Tavern in 2002.

A: (At the time), you get a sense of trying all that stuff, riding the MARTA for the first time and so much stuff. You get to blossom and become who you see yourself (as). It was a very pivotal time for me. I was going to the DeKalb School of the Arts in Avondale (Estates). I was getting to see the city for what it is in a lot of ways — going to all these places, but still living in Stone Mountain. I got to see a lot of parts of the city that a kid who lived far east wouldn’t normally see.

Q: Back then, did you imagine you’d have the career you have now?

A. No, I don’t think I had the space to really know what it was. I knew I wanted to do big stuff, but, even now, I don’t feel like I’m able to fully have a concept of what I am or what I’m doing. People say, “Oh, you’re really big,” and I’m like you’re always going to be Donald, you’re always going to be the kid in the Trinity Head Start program across the street from DeKalb. I grew up on Commerce Drive right across from Decatur High School. On some level, you’re always that, and when I’m home in Atlanta, I’m able to dig into that again and see it with different eyes.

Handout

Handout

Q: Amaarae, another Atlanta native, makes several appearances on the album. She’s also joining you on tour. What was it like working with her?

A: She has everything you kind of need. I love the voice she did on “Talk My (expletive),” that kind of animé, really dirty voice. She’s like this animé voice and she’s referencing Gucci Mane throwing someone out of a car. That was very Atlanta to me. She feels like the combined factor of Africa and someone who has roots there, but also the underground scene years ago in Atlanta with (rappers) Key! and Father.

Q: I read that you came up the film concept for the album while shooting the final season of “Atlanta.”

A: I probably had it longer than that because I had a friend who hit me after the album came out and saw the trailer and was like, “You told me about this movie like 10 years ago.” I was telling her about that movie while I was filming (2018′s) “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” I wanted to write a movie about a guy who goes off to make the best album he can, and when he comes out, the world has changed. I just thought that was such an honest understanding of what growing up is a little bit. That was just the concept of for an album. Then, I was like, “Oh, there’s a story that goes with it.”

TNS

TNS

Q: Is there a release date for the film?

A: Not yet. I still like surprise. I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate a lot of this internet place. I really enjoy surprise, but it feels like everybody wants to know everything immediately. It feels like people are breaking into a bakery and eating cookie dough and being like, “These cookies aren’t that good.” I can’t control everybody and everything, but I still like people not knowing exactly what they’re going to get.

Q: What can fans expect from your Atlanta show?

A: This is the show I would have done for “Because the Internet” if I had the funds. It was my second album, and I put all the money I made from the first album (“Camp”) back into that second album, production wise. This is the performance I would have done if I had the money, time and space. I guess I would want people to know that this is exactly what I wanted to do. There isn’t a force making me do any of this.

GREG NOIRE

GREG NOIRE

IF YOU GO

Childish Gambino with special guest Willow

8 p.m. Sept. 2. $59-$249. State Farm Arena, 1 State Farm Drive, Atlanta. 404-878-3000, statefarmarena.com.