Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ Video, Explained

From Jim Crow to Gwara Gwara, there are a lot of references you might’ve missed. By Hayley Miller

 

Childish Gambino took the internet by storm this weekend with the release of his new single “This Is America” and its accompanying music video loaded with haunting images of black oppression and gun violence.

Fans unpacked the subtle references on Twitter, with many proclaiming the rapper, whose real name is Donald Glover, as one of the most important voices of this generation.

ICYMI, below are some of the most-talked-about references in “This Is America,” in order of appearance in the video.

Calvin The Second

 

Viewers initially confused actor and musician Calvin The Second, who plays the guitarist in the video’s opening shot, for the father of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager shot to death in Florida in 2012 by George Zimmerman.

Calvin The Second confirmed his appearance in the video Sunday on Instagram: “Got the call from one of my agents while up at Coachella that they wanted me for the shoot on Sunday, drove down and got to be a part of history.”

Warehouse

 

“This Is America” is set entirely in a drab warehouse, which some viewers interpreted as the country’s foundation, built on systemic white supremacy and oppression.

“Much of this seems to take place in a building/warehouse where the foundation and support systems (the beams) are mostly white,” tweeted @JarridGreen.

Some veteran Childish Gambino fans pointed out similarities to his 2011 “Freaks and Geeks” music video, which also takes place in a warehouse.

Fela Kuti

 

The video features a shirtless Childish Gambino donning a gold chain necklace and trousers that give off a ’70s vibe. His look appears to be inspired by the late Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician dubbed “Africa’s answer to Handel” by one arts critic.

“Fela Kuti reverberates in Childish Gambino’s body,” civil rights activist Michael Skolnik wrote of the video on Twitter. “It is art at its highest form. Still in awe.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/childish-gambino-this-is-america_us_5af05c12e4b041fd2d28d8e9 

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