This is America

Childish Gambino's new song and video “This is America” is upsetting, depressing, and essential.

If you’re a fan of OK Go’s music videos, many of which I’ve previously linked to, Childish Gambino’s new video for “This is America” may seem slightly familiar. However, it very quickly takes a sharp left turn. I encourage you to give it a full watch.1


Donald Glover, AKA Childish Gambino, dancing at the beginning of the video

For the past several days, I’ve been unable to stop watching this striking video. It’s upsetting, depressing, and utterly essential. Slate does a fairly deep deconstruction, and Mashable covered several hidden messages.

If you need a chaser after that, I understand, and I can offer this link. It details the 1986 basis for a hilarious parody Donald Glover recently took part in on Saturday Night Live. It’s not all doom and gloom. Just a lot of it.


Footnotes:

  1. As always, the video is also archived here. ↩︎