Childish Gambino Video Sets the Internet On Fire

Donald Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino, dropped his new single, “This Is America”, after performing it on ‘Saturday Night Live’ this weekend. The singled dropped with a music video that serves as a statement of violence and gun control in America and has people on social media calling him a “Genius.”

Gambino’s video, which was released in Sunday’s early hours, shows a brutally honest view of America with several juxtaposing images of riots and gun violence mixed with overtly happy dancers doing some popular dance moves.

Along with some of the popular American dances used in the music video, one was the Gwara Gwara (not to be confused with the Stanky Leg), a South African dance which he executes masterfully! It’s possible, in fact, that the dancers are even distracting from the violence depicted onscreen.

The gun violence we see runs the gamut of domestic terrorism, showcasing images where individuals and even church chores are shot up and left for dead.  After each shooting, the guns in the video are handled with care while the “victims” of each are left there or hurriedly dragged off.  Conversely, the dancers don’t seem to be touched by the violence or even affected by it.  Some gun violence victims are even ignored or unceremoniously dispatched as the guns are carefully cradled and carried off very nicely by a person in nicely ironed khakis.

Glover puts forth a complex and multi-layered view of violence and race in America, where one can see all of the layers simultaneously. This perspective gives both a front-facing view of the violence as well as a look behind, beneath, and through the curtain of narrative that masks further violence in the background.

Take a look at the video and let us know what you think about “This Is America.”