The creative process that would eventually lead to the critically acclaimed Atlanta began, inadvertently, with a former child actor, porn star and viral rapper. In 2013, Abella Anderson was the center of adult entertainment, Danielle Fishel was years removed from playing Topanga on Boy Meets World, and Trinidad James was still running off All Gold Everything fumes. They all starred in Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, the visual prelude to Childish Gambinos 2013 album Because The Internet.
The short film was the brainchild of a pre-Grammys, pre-Emmys, pre-Golden Globes Donald Glover and a clear sign of the ambition that would net him those trophies in the near future. Hiro Murai, the visual architect of Glovers Atlanta and other film projects, directed it. Royalty, a collective of Glovers colleagues, were responsible for the story. A surreal, existential meander through a mansion, the 20-minute movie at the time an odd, bold piece of internet culture now looks like the blueprint for much of Glovers later output. It was the first iteration of an approach to filmmaking that would, six years later, culminate in this weekends Guava Island, the hour-long, Rihanna-starring film released on Amazon following Glovers Friday night headlining slot at Coachella.
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[Clapping for the Wrong Reasons] became the prelude for Atlanta but also, when we did that, it was a thing we just put out, says Jamal Swank Olori, a producer and screenwriter and member of Glovers Royalty collective. Nobody was credited for anything. We didnt know if it was going to do anything. It was back in the mixtape days, so we just wanted to drop.
We didnt handle it in a mature way, in terms of the way we developed it, Swank continues. So we talked for years about were going to do that again, and having the same kind of energy and bringing the same things we brought to it. This one, we want to all fully be able to own after weve finished it.
On Guava Island, the credits are clear. Donald, Stephen Glover, Fam Udeorji, Ibra Ake and Swank all have prominent roles on the film, which premiered at Coachella on Thursday and is currently streaming on Amazon. The 54-minute film follows Deni Maroon (Glover) and Kofi Novia (Rihanna) on a quest to throw a festival for the inhabitants of a fictional island under the rule of the despotic Red Cargo (Nonso Anozie). Its genesis began in Hawaii. Donald was recording new music, and had a loose concept for a film that the members of the collective began to shape.
.@DonaldGlover's #GuavaIsland is now exclusively available on Prime Video. Tell your friends (we just did). https://t.co/D4b7DDF4x4 pic.twitter.com/laWPJl4Q9U
Amazon Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) April 14, 2019
We just bounced some ideas based off a first idea that Donald had for a movie that kind of felt like City of God in this tropical setting, Stephen Glover, the writer of Guava Island, a high profile writer on Atlanta, and Donalds brother, explains. We talked about it and went over the story that could tie into black royalty. Something that felt like all these cool, black genres that are interesting to us.
Stephen based the character of Deni on his brother, striving to make an inspirational every person. At the time, he didnt know who would play Kofi.
I didnt know that I was writing for Rihanna, he says. We had some people in mind that we wanted to do it. Fortunately, we were able to get Rihanna. So it was good. There some things that were tweaked afterwards, but for the most part, it wasnt written specifically.
After Stephen finished the script, Ibra (Royaltys creative director) and Hiro went scouting for locations in Cuba. Ibra describes the country as overwhelming. At times the cast and crew were disconnected from the world, unable to send emails from outside the hotel or use their phones.
We were tackling this intense project Its just a lot of logistical things. I didnt realize how intimate it would be, Ibra says.
At the beginning of the film, three children try to rob Deni. They, particularly, were close to Swanks heart. He had lived in Nigeria and, when starting the process for Guava Island, was determined to show the complexity of their lives.
Everybody there is in survival mode, and its like that in a lot of third world countries. You dont have time to actually think about what you want to be, [or do] something different. Youre thinking about surviving, or thinking about making money, and it starts at a very young age that shapes a city or an environment.
The driving force at the center of the narrative is America. Its a loaded symbol, one that represents sacrifice that comes with chasing altruistic dreams. Before Glover performs a pared-down version of his Number One hit This Is America in the film, he explains to an impoverished co-worker why their dream of moving to the U.S. is hollow.
America is a concept, Deni says. Anywhere where, in order to get rich, you have to make someone else richer, is America.
This conception of America, as a broken, cruel system that breaks as often as it makes, is something the Royalty crew is increasingly interested in exploring. Hours before his brothers performance, Stephen articulates why that theme has become the guiding force for the groups recent work.
I think its something that we as a crew, Royalty, talk about a lot. I think a lot of people, like Nipsey Hussle, its this idea of capitalism in America and how its left people out over the years. But at the same time, it has the power to empower you if you can wield it. The idea of capitalism and the relation that black people especially have to capitalism is something thats interesting to us.
Death looms over the film, something Glover brought to his Childish Gambino set on Friday night at Coachella. During the show, he brought the performance to a standstill for a quiet monologue about mortality. I lost my dad this year, we lost Nipsey, we lost Mac, Gambino said to the crowd. What Im starting to realize is all we really have is memories, at the end of the day.
Fam, half of the management company Wolf + Rothstein, one of the instrumental people guiding Glovers career and Royalty member, is serene. In his approach to the film, viewers consumption of the movie is far more important than its critical reception.
Even if people hate it, people love it, we made a film that, most of the time, people would immediately want to make money off, Fam says. Though the crew likely saw a hefty payday for the film it was sold to Amazon after sending the company a four-and-a-half minute sizzle reel, according to Vanity Fair they also made sure to build a free-to-view window into the films distribution plan. We thought it was very important to at least build a window to have people see it for free. That it didnt just go up on Netflix. That it didnt just straight up go on Amazon or whatever that looks like. That people had a moment to see it for free. Our biggest thing is offering enough openness for people to discern how they feel about something. We speak less, and try to do a little bit more.