Childish Gambino is fresh off the release of a powerful new song and video called "This Is America,” which has received nothing but love and respect. The video, which was made for the 4th Of July, finds Donald moving around a warehouse with numerous happenings in the background and fore front of the video. Every action, character, and person has a different reference and/or meaning to bring the attention on black oppression and gun violence in America, among several others things. It’s safe to say the powerful video has been a hot talking point since it dropped last weekend following his SNL appearance, and now we have some further insight to it thanks to creative director Ibra Ake.
In new interview with WNYC radio, Ake had the following to say about the video... “we try to make stuff in a vacuum in a way where we’re not influenced by what was made before us, which usually ― in the media specifically ― comes from a white world and a white infrastructure.” “We reduced it to a feeling ― a very black feeling, a very violent feeling, but also a very fun feeling,” he added.
Speaking on some of the under-line references, like Childish Gambino’s facial expressions being partially inspired by Jim Carey in 1994′s “The Mask.” He also confirmed some of the more popular theories about references to Jim Crow and the late Fela Kuti, the legendary Nigerian musician whose look and dance moves were heavily incorporated in the video.
″Our goal is to normalize blackness,” Ake said. “This is how we would like to dance, but we have to be aware of the danger and the politics of how we’re perceived and the implications of the history of how we were treated.”
“There’s all this math you’re constantly doing expressing yourself,” he continued. “We’re trying to not have to explain ourselves to others and just exist, and not censor what our existence looks like as people.”
Listen to the full interview (below) and revisit the video right here if you missed it.
