Renaissance Man

Donald Glover is an artistic polymath. He wrote for 30 Rock when he was in his early 20s. He starred in a hilarious role on Community.  Dude created and stars in Atlanta, one of the most interesting and boundary-pushing shows on TV.

And as Childish Gambino, he rocks pop and hip hop that puts many other full-time musicians to shame.

Now Glover has dropped the most  provocative, fascinating and woke music video since . . . well, we can’t remember when.

Okay, so why is “This Is America” such a hot topic?

Well, since you asked . . .

The Sunken Place

The final image in the video is full of fear and terror, as Glover is running away from what appears to be an angry mob of white people. The background is dark, almost pitch black, and could very well be interpreted as an homage to director Jordan Peele’s Academy Award-winning horror comedy “Get Out.” Gambino’s song “Redbone” was featured on the soundtrack, so this seems like a safe bet. The harrowing imagery could be referencing the film’s concept of “The Sunken Place,” the antithesis of being woke, where a marginalized population feel helpless against a surrounding atmosphere of violence.

An Anti-Gun Message

You certainly aren’t going to miss seeing guns in this video. We’ve mentioned the opening execution, but later on in the clip, Glover also mows down a choir of gospel singers. But this is far from a typical violent gangsta fantasy. In each of these sequences, guns are treated in a much more reverent fashion than the bodies of those slain. This seems to clearly be referencing the growing desperate unrest in America with regards to gun control, gun violence and the state of mental health care. The fact that Glover uses a high powered rifle seems very pointed, and could also be referencing how terror threats seem to be the new normal.

Dancing As Protest

There’s a lot of dancing in this video, with a shirtless and muscled Gambino and kids busting African-inspired moves and viral dance crazes alike. But why? Well, the previously-mentioned blackface vaudeville acts involved exaggerated styles of dance, which Childish Gambino appears to reference with mimicking moves. His facial expressions switch between a smiling entertainer’s visage and an expressive look of outrage. Glover seems to be contrasting the financial and cultural primacy of black entertainment in white America to the indifference of the same society to the gun-driven violence that disproportionately plagues black citizens. It’s simultaneously highly entertaining and deeply disturbing to watch. And that seems to be the point.

What do you think? Did Glover re-invent the music video?