Donald Glover Says ‘Atlanta’ Season 3 Will Be Accessible, Compares It To Kanye West Album

As Donald Glover‘s Emmy-winning series “Atlanta” ends its electrifying (and very dark) second “Robbin’ Season” on FX,  one can’t help but wonder what the future holds for the wily bunch of characters created by Glover and his brother Stephen. On the surface, “Atlanta” focuses on Earn Marks (Glover) and his struggles to help his client and cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry) become a successful rapper, but that “plot” is really beside the point. “Atlanta” is more strange character study and not only is it one of the most bizarre and minimalist shows on television, but it features some of the most profound social commentary you’ll find on any screen currently. Tackling issues such as relationships, fatherhood, family, success, racism, failure, economic distress and our daily struggles in such new and inventive ways, each “Atlanta” episode ends in a weighty, layered and thought-provoking fashion — and “Atlanta” filmmaker Hiro Murai, who also helmed Glover’s/Childish Gambino’s incendiary “This Is America” music video has quickly become the best director on television bar none.

Glover may be one of the busiest people in show business today, but actor-writer is already talking about the show’s third season. “Atlanta” was just renewed last week and although the Glover brothers haven’t really started the creative process of writing Season 3, Donald told a panel this past weekend, at an FYC screening in Los Angeles (via IndieWire), he will be taking a cue from Kanye West for season 3: a more accessible season that’s not quite as dark and depressing.

“I align the seasons I think, to me, like Kanye records. I feel like this is our ‘Graduation,’” he said of West’s third, more-anthemic record that contained hits like “Stronger” and mainstream collaborations with people like Chris Martin from Coldplay. “This is probably our most accessible but also the realest — an honest version of it — and I feel like the most enjoyable, like the third album. We were all on iMessage together and kind of talking about it, and I think people were really hungry to like beat ourselves, which is great.”

‘Robbin’ Season’ was dark, unpredictable and sometimes surreal (the “Teddy Perkins” episode is probably the single best episode of television this year), so the idea of a follow-up “accessible” season will be interesting to watch, but could be a relative term. “Atlanta” is riotously inventive. The Glover brothers and Murai trying to make something more mainstream is probably just as eclectic, creative and inspired as a Kanye West record.