This is America by Childish Gambino (2018)

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This Is America Cover

This is America is a hip hop song by American rapper Donald Glover or known for his stage name as Childish Gambino. The song was released on May 5, 2018 written by Gambino, Jeffery Lamar Williams, and Ludwig Göransson, the same time when the rapper was hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live. This is America that is produced by Göransson and himself reached the position at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 as one of the 31st songs, which also on the top charts in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The song refers to wider issue of gun violence happened in the United States, the high rate of shooting of mass, along with social issues like racism and discrimination. At the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, the songs won all four its nominated categories : Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video. [1]

Childish Gambino

Controversy

The opening of the video shows an African-American playing guitar, focusing on Childish Gambino. Uniquely, Gambino took a pose which refers to the minstrel character known as Jim Crow.

Jim Crow was a popular theater character in the 1800s in the United States. Frequently, the character was played by a white man in blackface, a practice that is now considered as racist and offensive act.

The character was often played by Caucasian men in blackface, a practice that is now deemed racist and offensive. Jim Crow was a manifestation of how white people perceived the African-American community and culture in that era. [2]

This is America has reached more than 20 million views on YouTube, shows a provocative action of the rapper, Childish Gambino as he points the gun to the choir and dances while violence breaks out around him.

In an interview with TIME, a professor of music history at the University of Pennsylvania, Guthrie Ramsey, says “The central message is about guns and violence in America and the fact that we deal with them and consume them as part of entertainment on one hand, and on the other hand, is a part of our national conversation. You’re not supposed to feel as if this is the standard fare opulence of the music industry. It’s about a counter-narrative and it really leaves you with chills.”

Ramsay takes four key points from This is America :

The First Gunshot The video shows when Gambino shoots the man who was tied in the chair and head covered.

Ramsay says, “He’s talking about the contradictions of trying to get money, the idea of being a black man in America. It comes out of two different sound worlds. Part of the brilliance of the presentation is that you go from this happy major mode of choral singing that we associate with South African choral singing, and then after the first gunshot it moves right into the trap sound.”

Dancing in the Middle of Chaos The scene of Gambino and a group of kids wearing uniform dance while violence erupts behind them show one of the possible interpretations of “how black art is used to distract people from real problems disturbing America.” adds Ramsey

The Gunned Down Choir In the middle of the video shows a scene where a choir sings in a happy tone before Gambino gunned them down. This action recalls the Charleston shooting in 2015 where white supremacist Dylann Roof, killed nine black people in a church basement.

Gambino Running Away in the Closing Moments The final scene shows Gambino running, feeling terrified, in a long dark hallway from a group of people. “A black person running for his or her life has just been a part of American culture dating back to slavery,” he says. [3]

Below is the key lyrics of This is America by Childish Gambino:

You just a black man in this world

You just a barcode, ayy

You just a black man in this world

Drivin’ expensive foreigns, ayy

You just a big dawg, yeah

I kenneled him in the backyard

No, probably ain’t life to a dog

For a big dog [4]

References