Actor/comedian/rapper/writer/producer and reigning poster child for the #carefreeblackboy movement Donald Glover just successfully pushed his career to the next level. His much-hyped FX TV series Atlanta has won almost universal critical acclaim from the critics and, at one point, was the top trending topic on Twitter last night.
Viewers were even more rapturous than the critics, gushing over the show’s smart, nuanced handling of mental health, sexuality and gender, and intra-racial class issues. Most importantly, it did all that with deceptive ease, processing everything through a filter of slightly surreal, left-of-center, 21st-century post-hip-hop blackness that actually speaks to more people’s realities and experiences than much of the “mainstream” blackness being pimped. It also didn’t hurt that the show was gorgeously shot. If you’re someone without FX or its streaming app, the network has made the premiere episode available for free on Youtube. Definitely worth checking out.
