Childish Gambino Unveils Striking New “This Is America” Video
Childish Gambino is back. On Saturday night (May 5), Donald Glover unloaded a striking visual for "This Is America," a unique new single he dropped off just after his appearance on Saturday Night Live. He debuted the track during a performance on the show itself.
The new visual, which switches between scenes of Gambino shooting various guns at musicians and shots of said musicians kicking back in their element, is one that mirrors a track that vacillates between serene singing and mid-tempo trap. The video was directed by Gambino's longtime collaborator, Hiro Murai.
Gambino jumps into some bars on the new song. "This is America, don't catch you slippin' up, look what I'm whippin' up," he spits with a casual delivery.
Gambino notably took a big step away from rap when he dropped off his acclaimed Awaken, My Love! album at the end of 2016, but it looks like he's getting back to the realm of more focused hip-hop—though, it wouldn't be surprising to see him do a lot of genre blending on his next project.
The song itself also includes adlibs from 21 Savage, Blocboy JB, Slim Jxmmi, Quavo and Young Thug, and its content finds Gambino jumping from topics like police behavior to Black prosperity and remaining aware of your surroundings. Thugger's got a smooth solo at the very end, too.
With its jarring juxtaposition of joy and chaos and Gambino's musical twists, "This Is America" is an inventive creation from Gambino, and we obviously expect nothing less.
Peep the visual for "This Is America" below.
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