[Refrain: Choir, Childish Gambino, & Young Thug] The song won in all four of its nominated categories at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video. In the 1800’s and 1900’s white actors would perform in blackface and act out black stereotypes, with excessive facial expressions and movements. It has also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. “This is America” definitely touches on similar themes. Written by Glover, Ludwig Göransson, and Jeffery Lamar Williams,[5] and produced by Glover and Göransson, it was released on May 5, 2018, at the same time that Gambino was hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live. There is certainly some kind of political undertones about gun violence in the official music video, as Bino is seen shooting an anonymous person in the head and later on gunning down a gospel choir. When Gambino is dancing, it serves as a metaphor about how unaffected rap is by what’s going on in America. Harley stated that he felt "This Is America" was influenced by his song, but that he does not have an issue with it. [Bridge: Childish Gambino & Young Thug] Donald Glover and co-writer Ludwig Goransson won song of the year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 10), for their provocative track "This Is America… [Verse 2: Childish Gambino, Quavo, Young Thug, 21 Savage & BlocBoy JB] Donald Glover was presented with this question when he was interviewed by Vogue at the Met Gala. The scene is also perhaps reminiscent of the “running” scene in Get Out. Yes! While he was hosting Saturday Night Live on May 5, Donald Glover (a.k.a. Ooh, work it (21) Ooh, know that (Yeah, know that, hold on) Get it (Woo, get it, get it) Imagine you have a room with an internet access point. Guns in my area (Word, my area) poverty, violence, and racism in America as well as gun violence and police brutality. Get your money, Black man (Black man) Daniel Kaluuya, best known as the star of the film Get Out which the music video reportedly references, introduced the song's performance. Party just for you (Yeah) “This Is America” debuted in the #1 spot on the Hot 100, marking Gambino’s first time in the top 10 on the chart. They're both reactions to what's happening in the world. Migos also rapped about black equality in reference to Colin Kapearnick on their track “Culture National Anthem.”. Viewers have said this resembles scenes from the 2017 film Get Out. However, enough focus on verbal choice to create thoughtful and somewhat haunting possibilities is strongly suggested. Don't catch you slippin' now We started out with the beat and then I think within an hour [we had] the main hook. [13][14] Pitchfork's Stephen Kearse described the song as a representation of the "tightrope of being black", with the song "built on the sharp contrast between jolly, syncretic melodies and menacing trap cadences". Get your money, Black man (Black man) “This Is America” begins with a man seated in a warehouse, playing a guitar. I know you wanna party 384 likes. Browse the most recent videos from channel "Rich Valdes | This Is America" uploaded to Rumble.com "This Is America" is a song by American rapper Donald Glover, under his musical stage name Childish Gambino. With Sacha Baron Cohen, Roy Elghanayan, Emanuela Postacchini, Alfred Pierce. "This Is America" is also Gambino's first top 10; he previously reached number 12 in August 2017 with "Redbone". This is America Don't catch you slippin' up Don't catch you slippin' up Look what I'm whippin' up This is America (woo) Don't catch you slippin' up Don't catch you slippin' up Look what I'm whippin' up. [Chorus: Childish Gambino] In the music video, directed by frequent Gambino collaborator Hiro Murai, Gambino portrays this comparison by dancing around gleefully with school-aged children, seemingly unbothered by the chaotic scenes of violence in the background. and City of God. We just want the money (Yeah) Look what I'm whippin' now America’ arrives right now because it provides a buffer and counterpoint. The best videos are always the ones where viewers are enticed to go back for multiple views, and look a little harder for something they might have missed the first time around. Yes, According to Insider they are performing a South African dance, called the Gwara Gwara. We made like 80 percent of the song within two hours, and then to finish the rest, it took like two more years. [7] The lyrics primarily address black culture in the United States and gun violence in the country. These include institutionalization and marginalization, as well as the conflict between celebrity/pop-culture and the real issues with the treatment and state of black America. I feel like it’s not really my place to do that. (Missing Lyrics), Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (, America, I just checked my following list, and. "[26] Mahita Gajanan of Time quoted music history professor Guthrie Ramsey at the University of Pennsylvania: He's talking about the contradictions of trying to get money, the idea of being a black man in America. Grandma told me, "Get your money" “This Is America” works without such self-examination, but Glover’s stake … On my Kodak (Woo) Black You just a black man in this world Get your money, Black man (Black man) You just a barcode, ayy When asked more pointedly to explain the end of the music video, Glover responds. Look how I'm geekin' out (Hey) Look what I'm whippin' now Party just for free (Yeah) Get your money, Black man (Black man) I got the strap (Ayy, ayy) [Chorus: Childish Gambino, Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi & Quavo] Shit don’t change until you get up and wash yo' ass, nigga" from Kendrick’s track. Laing, Anibal O. Lleras. It starts off with a shirtless Gambino dancing through a warehouse, interacting with a series of chaotic scenes. Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy, woah) Don't catch you slippin' now Yes, that’s BlocBoy JB’s adlib. America expands as far as the Wi-Fi can reach. Party just for you [Refrain: Choir & Childish Gambino] [31][32], Several artists attracted attention and millions of views for creating covers of the song and music video with altered lyrics and themes, retaining the song's instrumental and the general structure of its music video. Money just for you (Yeah) He stated, "There's sort of a world-weariness in both this season and the music video. Yeah, yeah, I'm so cold like, yeah (Yeah) “This is America”, a dark and bleak interpretation of the America we live in, stunned the world when Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino, released the video last week. We just wanna party [25] Pitchfork awarded the song the distinction of "Best New Track". Yes, she later took to Instagram to confirm the cameo, posting: One theory suggests that Gambino is running from The Sunken Place, a concept developed in Jordan Peele’s film Get Out. We just want the money Dance and shake the frame (Yeah) Girl, you got me dancin' (Girl, you got me dancin') Directed by Romano Vanderbes. Black man I'm so fitted (I'm so fitted, woo) At a later point, Childish Gambino uses a Kalashnikov patterned automatic weapon to gun down a church choir, which viewers have interpreted as a reference to the 2015 Charleston church shooting. (1, 2, 3—get down) You go tell somebody Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (Hunnid bands) Police be trippin' now (Woo) Prettyman states "The video tests us, taunting us to keep pace as we try to decode every gesture and calculation". Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. I hope they just get to enjoy it. Get your money, Black man (Get your—Black man) Party just for free Throughout the video, numerous vehicles from several decades ago are featured, many of them with their hazard lights flashing and the driver's side door ajar, which critics interpreted as representing fatal police shootings during traffic stops, particularly the shooting of Philando Castile, who was shot while in a 1997 Oldsmobile; others have interpreted that the older model cars represent the relative lack of upward mobility of African Americans. Black man "This Is America" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 31st song to do so in the chart's history. It debuted with 78,000 downloads sold and 65.3 million US streams in the first week. Gambino is also the second Emmy Award-winning actor to reach number one on the Hot 100, the first being Justin Timberlake, who topped the chart with "Can't Stop the Feeling!" You go tell somebody Viewers interpreted these scenes as a reference to Americans’ willingness to protect gun rights over people, despite the country’s alarmingly high rates of gun violence. When Childish Gambino dropped “This Is America” last week, the world sat up and listened — more than 100 million times on YouTube alone. The video is a story of the struggles he and other Americans face when it comes to race and … In both instances, a child appears from off-screen holding a red cloth, on which Gambino gently lays the weapon used, while the bodies are simply dragged away, which viewers have interpreted "as a reference to Americans' willingness to protect gun rights over people". Maybe Gambino is making a point that we should be using our platform to address violence, the way he is with “This is America”. Look what I'm whippin' now (Ayy) Contraband, contraband, contraband (Contraband) "This Is America" is a song by American rapper Donald Glover, under his musical stage name Childish Gambino. Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away I know you wanna party (Yeah) It’s for the people. Natty Kasambala assembles a list of footnotes to the video, from … We gon' blow like, yeah (Straight up, uh) A brief scene in the music video portrays a hooded figure riding on a white horse through the chaos behind Bino. No, probably ain't life to a dog New to This American Life? Some strong early analyses include Doreen St. Felix’s “The Carnage and Chaos of Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’” in The New Yorker and Frank Guan’s “What It Means When Childish Gambino Says ‘This Is America’” in New York Magazine. Written by Glover, Ludwig Göransson, and Jeffery Lamar Williams, and produced by Glover and Göransson, it was released on May 5, 2018, at the same time that Gambino was hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live. With all the violence going on around us, modern rap focuses on money, trapping, sex, and fashion. You just a big dawg, yeah [35][36], The music video also spawned popular Internet memes, particularly those in which the audio was replaced so that Childish Gambino appeared to be dancing in time to another song. Analysis: Donald Glover's New Childish Gambino Video, 'This Is America' NPR Music's hip-hop journalist Rodney Carmichael breaks down the political … https://time.com/5267890/childish-gambino-this-is-america-meaning This is America (Skrrt, skrrt, woo) Yeah, yeah, this is guerilla (Woo) One theory suggests that the horse alludes to the pale horse Death rides as a member of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6, And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and the name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him…. Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody “This is America” was awarded with the GRAMMY for Best Rap/Sung Performance, Best Music Video, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year at the 2019 GRAMMY Awards: The video has multiple references the dancers in the school uniforms are referencing the Florida shootings and other harmful events that have happened to school students. In a tweet, Peele explained The Sunken Place represents the marginalization of black people in America. This a celly (Ha) [20] In an interview with the New York Times, Murai discussed his upcoming season for Atlanta, a show created by and starring Glover. The video ends with Gambino in a darkened portion of the warehouse, fearfully running towards the camera while being chased by several white people. Glover's manager, Fam Rothstein, denied any plagiarism. In a 2015 interview with Billboard, Quavo discussed the trend of slavery and police brutality as matter of history repeating itself. Many misidentified him as the father of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager killed in 2012. [9][11] Young Thug returns to supply the song's outro. Also the “Grandma told me, ‘Get your money’” line is very reminiscent of the line, “I should’ve listened when my grandmama said to me / Nothing is … Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah You mothafuckas owe me Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy, woo) Dropping amid ongoing political and cultural tumult and turmoil, Childish Gambino’s “This is America” appears to be a commentary on black life in America and American culture as a [33][34] Nigerian rapper Falz released "This Is Nigeria" on May 25, highlighting the nation's issues with corruption and organized crime among others. Gambino’s gold chain necklace and trousers appear to be inspired by the late Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician dubbed “Africa’s answer to Handel” by one arts critic. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away [15] Billboard critics ranked it 10th among the "greatest music videos of the 21st century. It’s almost as if the … Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody With Bree Anthony, Fanne Foxe, C.J. This is America I happened to listen to “This Is America,” the new single by Childish Gambino, a.k.a. I got the plug in Oaxaca (Woah) Childish Gambino’s newest single “This Is America” is a catchy track, but what has people really talking is its music video. Get your money, Black man (Black man) [15] Bryan Rolli of Forbes calls it "a vicious, urgent take on modern trap music, as Glover adopts the clipped, percussive flow of his contemporaries atop crackling 808s and rumbling bass. Donald Glover (or Childish Gambino) was originally an actor/writer for the NBC sitcom, 30 Rock, actor/comedian known for his role as Troy Barnes on the NBC sitcom Community, as the creator and star of FX’s Atlanta, and as young Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars prequel Solo. Intentionally or otherwise, Gambino is saying what Kanye isn’t, and saying it explicitly. The song features background vocals by American rappers Young Thug (who also has writing credit as Williams), Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd, BlocBoy JB, Quavo of Migos, and 21 Savage [10], The song features a gospel-style choir and background contributions from various American rappers. Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi, BlocBoy JB, 21 Savage and Quavo each deliver an ad-lib. Drivin' expensive foreigns, ayy Sacha Baron Cohen offers his take on America's patriotism. Donald Glover a.k.a. All the featured artists are black Americans, and some of them have contributed to the fight against police brutality in America. [28], In December 2018, Billboard ranked "This Is America" as the 6th best song of the year.[29]. On his 2017 track “Nothin New,” 21 Savage rapped about the cyclical nature of poverty, violence, and racism in America as well as gun violence and police brutality. Get your money, Black man (Black man) Created by Sacha Baron Cohen. 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