The first time you hear " Paper Boi , " the hit Song dynasty by Alfred " Paper Boi " Miles on FX’sAtlanta , you want to hear it again . While there are many things to praise about Donald Glover ’s excellent young FX comedy – its sly societal commentary , its dreamlike visual style , its easygoing funny rhythms – it ’s worth noting that Glover and his collaborators have attain a task that might be more difficult than creating an acclaimed telecasting show : producing a tricky song that populate up to the history .

How did Glover and his squad ensure you ’d be be humming " Paper Boi " by the time the episode ended ? Mostly though a patchwork of riffing , recording seance , and mining their nostalgia for Atlanta ’s rich musical tradition . Given Glover ’s success as a player – he ’s free records and perform under the name Childish Gambino – the Song dynasty ’s earworm status should n’t appal you , but the specifics of how it came to ruleAtlanta’sfictional street might storm you .

Who is Paper Boi?

In the world ofAtlanta , Paper Boi is a rising hush-hush rapper , a drug monger , and the cousin-german of Glover ’s character , Earn Marks . He ’s dally with droll humor by Brian Tyree Henry , an actor whofirst gained notoriety from Broadway’sBook of Mormon . But the voice you hear on the " Paper Boi " data track does n’t actually go to Henry . The song was performed by Stephen Glover , Donald ’s brother , a writer on the show , and a knocker in his own right , performing under the nameSteve G. Lover .

" Me and Stephen … wanted to establish [ Paper Boi ] off of what sort of Atlanta hoodlum ikon were , " said Donald Glover during a board discussion with Angela Yee at the Paley Center for Media in New York City back in August . " Like , when Gucci [ Mane ] first come out … kind of crossed with Doe B , who ’s not from Atlanta , just that Marco Polo reinvigorated kind of look , which feels like the freshness you get in the country . "

Where did the beat come from?

Though Stephen Glover provided the vocals , the beat was in reality created by 27 - year - old manufacturer Christopher Cobb , who goes by the nameChemistand has produce cartroad for creative person like Freeway , Nipsey Hussle , and Tory Lanez . While he ’s produced music for Donald before – check out thisDonkey Kong Countrysampling data track " Eat Your Vegetables " – he depict himself as Stephen ’s go - to - producer . His connection to Stephen was how he stop up make the beatnik for the " Paper Boi " track , which he sent to the doorknocker long before the show was finished . In fact , he did n’t know the the song was feature so prominently in the pilot until he saw it a couple week ago at the New York premiere .

" I see that it go perfectly for the show , " Chemist tell me over the phone while taking a interruption from work in the studio . " He ’s trying to entrance that vibe of pure Altanta pelvic arch - record hop vista , which seems to be a dying one – or maybe not a dying one but a changing one – that sound really come from 2003 or 2008 , when most of those synths were developed , those heavy trumpet and electronic synths . I used that whistle , which was very popular with Shawty Lo ’s D4L tracks . I was just trying to capture the core of Atlanta . "

While Chemist is n’t an Atlanta native – he hails from Richmond , Virginia – he grew up listening to the city ’s long custom of innovative , boundary - pushing hip - record hop . Chemist started making beats over 11 years ago and first gain a chase on the website SoundClick , take inspiration from the super - producer of the late ' 90s and former ' 00s like Pharrell , Swizz Beatz , Just Blaze , and Timbaland , who now farm the music for FOX ’s showy pelvic girdle - hops soap operaEmpire . Though much of Chemist ’s work favorsthe sample - heavy approach shot of J Dilla , he enjoin the " Paper Boi " beat was particularly inspired by Atlanta rapper Rocko ’s 2008 strike " Umma Do Me . "

Atlanta Donald Glover Paper Boi

FX

Hearing the song on the show , Chemist could see why the pulsation was a unspoilt fit for Paper Boi . " It view the centre of the inner - city sound , " he say . " With a lot of pop , everything is so alright - tune and very well assorted and orchestrate , but with a lot of articulatio coxae - hop producer , we do n’t know anything . We just catch expensive equipment and start chopping , and whatever we come up with is whatever we come up with . The ones who work the hard come up with unique sounds . "

When can you own “Paper Boi”?

When asked about the opening of a Paper Boi album at the Paley Center , Glover was untrusting .   " It just seems like a way to deal stuff and nonsense , " he say . " We made songs , and the Paper Boi songs we plainly made . I just wanna discharge it in the coolest way , and also have it live up to what most of the time that material does n’t know up to . Something coolheaded , and citizenry will be like , ' Oh shit , I actually want to take heed to this , ' as opposed to it being a novelty labor . "

If the eventual Paper Boi album is half as effective asAtlanta , which also buy the farm through a lengthy maturation appendage , it ’ll be more than deserving the wait .

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Paper Boi Atlanta

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Paper Boi Atlanta

FX