Song · Childish Gambino
“Redbone” by Childish Gambino
From the album “Awaken, My Love!” (2016)
“Redbone” by Childish Gambino appears on 19 radio countdowns from 10 stations between 2016 and 2026. It was first released in 2016 on the album “Awaken, My Love!”. Its best result is #3 on the Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2017. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #115 alternative song of 2017.
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"Redbone" arrived in November 2016 as the second single from "Awaken, My Love!", the third album Donald Glover made as Childish Gambino, and it sinks deep into a slow-cooked haze of psychedelic soul and funk. Ludwig Göransson produced it, starting from a beat Glover laid down on the drums and piling Rhodes, Wurlitzer, guitar, bass and even banjo on top. That strange, high voice floating over the groove is no studio trick, Glover has said; he simply sang in a different way. William Earl Collins and Gary "Mudbone" Cooper share the lyric credit with him.
It won the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance, one of three nominations that included Record of the Year, and Rolling Stone later found room for it on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2016 | 89 |
| 2016 | 32 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 100.1 Songs of 2016 | 101 |
| 2016 | 5 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2016 | 100 |
| 2017 | 58 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 2017 | 91 |
| 2017 | 8 | 90.9 The Bridge Kansas City, MO | 90.9 The Bridge Top 100 Songs of 2017 | 90 |
| 2017 | 3 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 200 Songs of 2017 | 200 |
| 2017 | 47 | 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH | 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2017 | 88 |
| 2017 | 21 | WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD | WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2017 | 104 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 712 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 28 | Triple J | Triple J Hottest 100 of the 2010s (2020) | 100 |
| 2020 | 1835 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2022 | 886 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2024 | 111 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 704 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2024 | 253 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 105 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
| 2025 | 73 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 224 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2026 | 392 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
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