The video, directed by his frequent Atlanta collaborator Hiro Murai, is a beautifully shot meditation on gun violence, police brutality, and domestic terrorism. Meanwhile, Glover asks the viewers to just “watch me move”.
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The “Redbone” singer references everything from the 2015 Charleston mass shooting to the Charlottesville protests and from the Civil Rights movement to Black Lives Matter in order to bring to attention to the gun and racism epidemics ailing America.
With Atlanta star Donald Glover serving as host and musical guest for the May 5 episode of the long-running variety sketch series, his musical alter-ego Childish Gambino performed a brand new song during his performance.
The video was released early on Saturday as the first single off his forthcoming album.
Fans were delighted when Glover wasn’t just limited to “Saturday Night Live”.
Another stated that “This Is America” is a “take on how America is fundamentally ignorant and unjust to people of color and also how ignorant people of color can be of themselves”.
The music video, which is set in a large warehouse, also features a shirtless Glover.
The video shows Glover dancing like a maniac with his shirt off and wielding guns, burning rubble in the background and a lot of empty cars. “Black man, Black man. GET DOWN”#ThisIsAmerica It’s like Kanye was supposed to be our musical Anakin Skywalker, but now Childish Gambino/Luke Skywalker (The New Hope) has filled the seat meant for the “father”.
When asked about working with Glover, he said: “We perpetuated that rumour for a long time without recording anything”. After being snubbed at the 2018 Grammy Awards and various other awards with his previous LP ‘Awaken, My Love!’, we sure hope CG4 sees Gambino get the success he truly deserves.
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This marks the first new music released by Glover since 2016. Gambino kicks off a nation-wide “This Is America” Tour this fall, in what’s sure to be quite the experience.
