Childish Gambino's 'This is America'

'This is America' - a song with a statement. It references race, gun laws, politics, and countless other debates in the world today.

The video itself is filmed in such a way that it appears to be one tracking shot, however, in reality it is multiple shots cut together in a series of different slides, jump cuts, and blackouts.

The song has two faces. On the one hand there is the more cultural, traditional sound to the music which has a more humorous feel to it; and then there's the more serious and aggressive sound of the rap. Similarly, during the more cultural sections of the song the video portrays the reality of black culture in the states and then contrasts it with gun violence, police brutality, and gang culture during the rap sections.

The man with the guitar features at the beginning and end of the video. This could be a metaphor for history repeating itself in the states.

The artist uses a combination of digetic and non-digetic sound to create the beat within the video. This provides a new and interesting view of how music can be made and also comments on the almost lyrical way that the US is unravelling at this point in time.