Childish Gambino - This is America (Analysis)

Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino's "This is America", was arguably the most significant single of 2018. Winning song and music video of the year at the 2018 Grammy's and surpassing 648 million views on YouTube. The music video follows Glover through a single-take continuous shot as he makes his way through a warehouse, while this is happening Glover provides a commentary on violence in and towards the African-American community, the bystander effect in the internet era, police brutality, Jim Crow and racial stereotypes, and gun violence. While in terms of genre the trap-gospel hybrid is a sonic divergence from the traditional punk aesthetic of a protest song - the messaging and semantics convey that protest and a sense of anger at the status quo is not limited to a single genre.

The music video opens up with the hand-held camera moving in to a chair and guitar in an otherwise empty warehouse, enter stage right a black man picks up guitar, and begins playing along to the chords of the song, the camera pans right to reveal Glover with his back facing away, he turns around and begins to dance – however his facial expressions are purposefully distorted in order to reference Jim Crow, a stereotype of black people from the 1950’s. What Gambino is portraying, is that little has changed from the 50’s to now in terms of using black culture and the problems in the African-American community as entertainment products. The inclusion of Atlanta rappers such as Young Thug and 21 Savage on the ad libs of the song reflects this, as while often they do talk about their rags to riches journey and luxury lifestyle ("Savage, why you got a 12 car garage, and you only got six cars?"). These songs and tracks where they talk about the hardships and issues of where they are from as well as race are consumed by their predominantly white audience all the same. Within the first minute, the man playing guitar now has a cloth covering is head, and Gambino shoots him, as the music changes from gospel, to trap, the man is dragged away while the gun is carried safely in a red cloth. The connotation of all these individual elements represent contradictions. Gospel and trap are both forms of music that are created and heavily associated with black American culture, yet one conveys Christianity and faith, while the other, with its distorted bass and triplet drums tend to be associated with darker songs, and about the artists life. The change in Gambino’s personality, from dancing to shooting, is a clear representation of the American media’s perception of black people, he is insinuating that black people are only ever regarded as entertainment figures or criminals, while ordinary people are ignored. Finally, the treatment of the gun juxtaposed with the treatment of the man shows how America care more about gun laws than about human life, especially black lives. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." It is clear that Glover believes that the powers that be in America, especially the in-power Republican Party under Donald Trump’s leadership care more about the upholding of this amendment than about the safety of marginalised groups who are more at risk of gun violence, nearly 85% of black homicide victims are victims of gun violence.

One of the most prominent pieces of imagery in the music video is of Childish Gambino dancing with school children, while riots break out between police and black civilians in the background. It is to juxtapose the two sides, as well as to represent art and media as a distraction from the real-life problems in society, as our focus in on Gambino and the kids in the foreground and not on the real-life problems in the background. The shot may also represent the blending of popular media with real issues as well however, showing there is no longer an escape.

The camera pans almost 180 degrees, as it switches back to a gospel setting, featuring a church choir, this shift once again shows the duality and opposition between two extremes in black American culture – however it shows the similarities as well, when Gambino stops dancing, is tossed a gun and opens fire on the choir. This shows that all sides are being exposed to violence. The shooting of the choir is a direct reference to the 2015 Charleston shooting, in which Dylann Roof killed nine black people in a Church. The use of the real-life shooting as a reference may be implying the sensitivity society has to real-life violence due to its portrayal in media, it may also be showing the shooting was a consequence of this violence – similarly to Banduras media effects theory. After the shooting there are 17 seconds of silence which may represent the 17 victims of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, Gambino poses like he is about to shoot the dancing children but isn’t holding a gun, before lighting a joint to smoke. This may represent how America faces constant gun violence but ignores these shooting until the next one happens.

In a later scene, the camera tilts up and pans left, showing children on a balcony, filming the events unfold beneath them on their phones. This shot coincides with the lyrics: “that’s a celly, that’s a tool”. This once again conveys a juxtaposition in Glover’s narrative, as on the one hand this could be interpreted that the increase in filming events of police brutality for example had shined a light on the issue and exposed it, while on the other it may show that people watching the events through a phone screen are desensitized to the real life events Glover is portraying. The line may also refer to a prison cell (“celly”), the incarceration of black men is a large issue in America, and the warehouse somewhat resembles a prison. The shot goes on to show a white horse running through the chaos with a black, but otherwise unidentifiable rider. This may represent the first horseman of the apocalypse, once again referencing Christian mythology. The white horse can represent end times and hell on earth. "I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him." The police car behind the horse may show that the Police represent Hell/ the Devil in this scene.

The following shot shows abandoned cars, with Gambino climbing on and dancing in the middle, the shot moves out, turning into an extreme wide angle, featuring the guitarist from the beginning as well as a cameo from SZA sitting on one of the cars. The presence of only performers/musicians, in a scene which likely shows the aftermath of the riots portrayed throughout the video represent the media only paying attention to black people when they perform, even though serious events involving black people have played out in the video. The presence of the old, beat-up cars may be a subversion of the foreign whips’ trope in hip-hop, as cars are often used as a sign of wealth, but the 15-20-year-old American cars used here represent poverty. However, in the final scene of the video there is a musical shift again and the shot shows Gambino running for his life down a dark corridor, being chased by police with a terrified look on his face in a medium shot. The lyrics of the song feature Young Thug singing “You just a Black man in this world, you just a barcode” which shows that despite Gambino being successful and wealthy, he is not immune from the effects of racism in America. The shot is also an inter-textual reference to the 2017 film "Get Out" directed by Jordan Peele. It references the sunken place, in the film, in which marginalized people are aware of violence around them, but are powerless to do anything about it.


Overall “This is America” is not the traditional protest song, however, it is clear that it is one. The representation of problems faced in America in particular in regard to race is the key message to this song and video. It is certain that Gambino is not simply virtue signalling in this video and it is a genuine protest to issues, as this single was not used to build up hype to an album release and 2018 was a highlight of Glover’s film career starring in Solo: A Star Wars Story and the then upcoming Lion King remake in starring roles – meaning that the song which highlighted controversial issues may have been a risk in securing major studio film roles. The music video is one of the greatest in recent memory in terms of its layers of meaning applied to each shot, and the song is definitely one of the most impactful contemporary protest songs.