"This Is America" Analysis

 

    Donald Glover released his track This Is America in 2018, and it quickly gained popularity. The music video racked up 11M likes and over 800M views on Youtube.

    In 2019 the single won four Grammy's, Awards for Best Music Video, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Melodic Rap Performance. Alongside these recognitions it also won multiple MTV and BET awards such as Best Choreography, Best Direction, and Best Impact Track, among other awards. 

    Deeper into the music video itself, it has served as a harsh, yet true depiction of society to this day, targeting the entire American population, regardless of race. The video draws attention to the two different worlds we live in today, black vs white. 

    Glover draws emphasis to how there has still been no movement on gun laws promoting stricter ownership meanwhile mass shootings continue to occur. In the video he references multiple mass shootings in recent year by re-enacting the Charleston church shooting in 2015 and towards the end of the video there is pause of 17 seconds of silence, presumably referencing the 17 lives lost in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in Florida. This continues to tie into present day as in late 2020, another tragedy occurred, this time at a high school in Oxford, Michigan. 

    Another aspect of the video is how Glover exemplifies the underlying problems of this country, how black citizens are treated differently, and that nothing is being done to protect them or the rest of the United States. Glover also portrays black culture and its importance to society through the different verses and dances used.

    Both these aspects portray global issues such as police brutality, racism and gun violence. The ignorance and neglecting of these issues is a reoccurring theme, not only in the video, but in the world we live in today.