Childish Gambino Announces Release Date for Final Album ‘Bando Stone & The New World,’ Releases First Single ‘Lithonia’

Childish Gambino has announced his new and final album under the moniker “Bando Stone & The New World,” releasing July 19.

Coinciding with the album announcement, the rapper has released its first single “Lithonia,” named after a city just east of Atlanta, where his TV show is set. “Lithonia” is something of a different sound for Gambino, venturing into rock territory with heavy guitars and reverb vocals.

News of the album release comes just a few days after he premiered the trailer for his upcoming film “Bando Stone & The New World,” which dropped in tandem with his appearance at the BET Awards. The film sees him starring as the title character who meanders through an empty world before stumbling upon a mother and her son. Together, they seem to fight for survival in a dystopian society filled with giant squids and menacing emu-like birds.

Gambino will also stage an interactive experience to give a first listen to “Band Stone & The New World” on July 6 at Little Island in New York City. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET.

To commemorate this new era, Gambino is planning on hitting the road for his previously announced New World Tour. The international trek kicks off on August 11 in Oklahoma City, OK, with planned stops in Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Chicago before heading overseas to Europe and Australia. Willow and Aamarae are set to support on the tour.

He first announced his final two albums in April, when he revealed in a conversation on his Gilga project that he will be dropping two new Childish Gambino albums. The first album, an updated version of his surprise release “3.15.20,” which quietly dropped in March 2020, arrived in May under its original title, “Atavista.”