Fans asked, and Childish Gambino delivered. On Friday, December 5, the Grammy award-winning artist officially released his live cover of "Prototype” — a standout cut from OutKast's 2003 album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
Gambino, also known as Donald Glover, performed the song during his November 22 set at the Camp Flog Gnaw festival, live streamed by Amazon Music. His rendition featured his longtime collaborator Ludwig Göransson and singer-songwriter Steve Lacy.
“A song like ‘Prototype’ felt like the start of something new—a vision of love, sound, and identity still taking shape,” Glover says of the importance of his cover. “It showed how far you could stretch hip-hop, how honest and strange and beautiful it could be. There’s a little bit of OutKast in everything I’ve ever done, and this cover is my way of honoring that.”
You can listen to “Prototype” now exclusively on Amazon Music.
The release comes about a month after Gambino inducted OutKast into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The multi-hyphenate delivered a poignant “freestyle” intro for the iconic duo made up of André 3000 and Big Boi. Gambino reflected on OutKast’s extensive discography and the impact it had on his career, as well as the Southern rap landscape, as a whole.
“Your influence echoes in everything and every artist I love,” he told the inductees. “Atlanta is not the music mecca it has become without you. There is no Childish Gambino without you. There is no South without you. So tonight, we honor two visionaries who turned their differences into a dynasty. Two brothers who showed the world you don’t have to choose — just respect each other and love each other.”