Board 8 > This is America

(+) Yeah! (+)

Watched it today and I actually love the song. I remember he did Stay Woke also, What are some other good songs by Childish Gambino and what do you guys think?

The meming and stuff is okay, but I love the video and the song on the whole, its going to be played a lot on my end
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It's pretty dank
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My very early impression is that I like the video and think it's really interesting (that dancing lol), but am not that into the song. I could warm up to it though. The only other track I really know by him is Redbone, which is a classic obviously.
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So much to unpack in the video, the sheer amount of background events is incredible. it's really stuck with me the past couple of days.
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Yeah I have read about a lot of the hidden meanings and interpretations and its just as interesting reading those than anything.

The pale horse of death leading the police is a cool one.

One I havent actually seen mentioned is all the cars having Hazard lights on though
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Its been stuck in my head the last few days, its great.
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It's so good
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Alright I've been a Gambino fan for a bit, I'll try to break down his past albums

His first, Camp, is pretty straight forward hip-hop/rap. He has strong metaphors in his bars, but there's also a bunch of bars that haven't aged well. Favorites would be Bonfire, Heartbeat, and Kids. Heartbeat would be his first somewhat popular hit.

Next album, Because the Internet, he starts to get weird. Still hop hop/rap but he throws in some other stuff like R&B and pop. He goes for this concept album and...it kind of meanders a bit. There's some real good shit on it though. 3005, Crawl, and Earth: The Oldest Computer are my favorites. 3005 got pretty popular as well.

His most recent album, "Awaken, My Love!", he went completely left field and ditched the rap for straight up R&B funk. I'd say this is his most solid album to date but you have to be ok with the bit of weird. Favorites would be Zombies, Me And Your Mama, and of course Redbone. One thing I will say as well: California is a bad song, no matter how many times I tried listening to it.

He has some EPs and mixtapes as well that have some stuff, the song Sober is great.
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That's about where I'm at too. First two have their moments but also some pretty bad ones so I wouldn't really say they're good albums as a whole. "Awaken, My Love!" is great stuff though.
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I think the music video is gonna be the best of the year (rightfully so), but I don't like the song. I get the message of it, but it's not something I'd listen to on the regular.
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If you wanna listen to Gambino you definitely gotta start before Camp. Culdesac and his EP to see the kind of lyric-heavy and formulaic rap he started with. It can get pretty repetitive but his most iconic tracks are in there I think (Freaks and Geeks, etc) and you can definitely see where his musical style evolved from. It provides a better context for his newer stuff which can seem all over the place.
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i showefd my dad the video earliar and he was way into it. He asked me to show it to him again tomorrow.

There hasnt been a song or video like this that has hooked me.... I dont think ever. I want to know more about this dude, it makes me want to do something make a difference. Is that weird? Like I feel inspired to do something I just dont know what, it just gets you wanting to change *something*
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And the other videos I have seen so far is Sweatpants and Sober. I dig Sober a lot. Sweatpants is pretty good too, you can see he really likes the single shot stuff.
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So how do you interpret the meaning?
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I think others have covered it but definitely don't sleep on Camp and EP. That's classic Gambino and always going to be what defines him to me, even though his style gets reinvented with every album. BTI is an experimental concept album version of his rap, and while AML is a great album, it comes across as "Gambino trying something different."

This is America feels like what you'd get if you mashed everything he's ever done together.
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MarioSuperstar posted...

So how do you interpret the meaning?

Well the end of the video is the sunken place and him trying to wake up, so the rest of the video is him just being what america wants him to be. They want him to be a killer and a gangster and a stereotype and also be okay with it and just be entertainment. Be the problem and the distraction at the same time
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I've never heard that one. Interesting. Very interesting. Totally different from the groups I've discussed with.
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Well it's not that America wants him to do that, he represents America
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And here I thought my answer waa going to be very cookie cutter. What has it been to you and your friends?

I'm white by the way. I don't think it should matter much because I feel like the song is for everybody but maybe noteworthy when looking at different interpretations?
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foolm0r0n posted...

Well it's not that America wants him to do that, he represents America

I heard that one and I can see that too. But to me the part where he shoots and then says this is America is him like taking the orders from/for America. To me it's like he represents America but what America wants him to be and showcase
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I'm black and the message is definitively racial. It's more so black brutality than stereotypes
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So more black on black issues than just media stuff is your view?
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No not even black on black issues. Just plain racism. Notice the shot up choir. Notice how every one treats the guns delicately.
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There is no wrong interpretation of course but it's interesting to see perspectives of those who see media in an entirely different lens.
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ScareChan posted...

i showefd my dad the video earlia

Yes?
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I can understand it being somewhat about racism,but there are other things that others have pointed out that dont have anything to do with race. Like the silece before the end is 17 seconds I think, supposing to represent the parkland victims I think it was. And also right at the end of the hallway before the fade to black there is a guy with waterbottles that people are saying is about flint michigan's issues. And just the whole Death/ Four Horsemen reference.

I think that kind of wraps back around to what I was saying though that it wants him to represent the problem and the distraction. There is a lot of racial symbolism and issues going on, but he hides other non racial issues in plain sight
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Forceful_Dragon posted...

ScareChan posted...

i showefd my dad the video earlia

Yes?

this would be a sick way to give you a hidden mafia message
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ScareChan posted...

And also right at the end of the hallway before the fade to black there is a guy with waterbottles that people are saying is about flint michigan's issues.

Flints issues are a racial issue <_<
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Jakyl25 posted...

ScareChan posted...

And also right at the end of the hallway before the fade to black there is a guy with waterbottles that people are saying is about flint michigan's issues.

Flints issues are a racial issue <_<

Oh, my bad. I thought it was just about something in the water and putting some kind of pipeline

I am definitely willing to admit ignorance on many things politically right now.
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ScareChan posted...

Jakyl25 posted...

ScareChan posted...

And also right at the end of the hallway before the fade to black there is a guy with waterbottles that people are saying is about flint michigan's issues.

Flints issues are a racial issue <_<

Oh, my bad. I thought it was just about something in the water and putting some kind of pipeline

I am definitely willing to admit ignorance on many things politically right now.

Almost needless to say, Flint is very very black, and depending on who you ask, this is the reason why nobody seems to care about fixing the problem.

I think it's pretty clear that your interpretation is based on a very .... Different lens due to our different experiences. Like i said, nothing wrong with that. Heck, that could be the point he was making.

But every single black person i talk to, it represents racism in America to them.
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ScareChan posted...

I'm white by the way. I don't think it should matter much

No it does
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Arguably your interpretation of him being "f orced" to play "stereotypes" is more based on how you interpret black aesthetics and culture. That was just very weird to hear.
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Well I am gypsy, so we have our own sometimes similiar sometimes diffiernt issues about discrimination. But yeah thats probably where the disconnect is just not having that same exact level to look at it from
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MarioSuperstar posted...

Arguably your interpretation of him being "f orced" to play "stereotypes" is more based on how you interpret black aesthetics and culture. That was just very weird to hear.

I hope Im not offendeing anyone. This video just really made me think and want to be engaged with it.
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ScareChan posted...

Well I am gypsy, so we have our own sometimes similiar sometimes diffiernt issues about discrimination.

No don't do it plz
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Read black think pieces out there.
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Sounds like I am just making myself look dumb now so I wont say anything more, but I hope others talk more about it, I love to see other interpretations and ideas about it
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ScareChan posted...

Sounds like I am just making myself look dumb now so I wont say anything more, but I hope others talk more about it, I love to see other interpretations and ideas about it

I thought you weren't saying anything bad or dumb or anything like that

Although I admit I also don't speak about what I think the video means because I also feel like I'll sound dumb

EDIT: Or that, as a white person, I just "won't understand it" or something. *shrug* I will say I definitely think it's about racism in America, but honestly it seems like you were describing something in that vein anyways. Like you weren't far from that line of thought, but I think you just didn't understand that some of the symbols and some of the events you referenced were connected to race in the way that they are.
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Don't worry about being judged man, it was interesting insight.
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interesting and WRONG
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There is no wrong interpretation because Glover himself knows it's different for everyone.

But forced stereotype? Gangster? Yiiiikes bruh.
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video was really cool

did not like the song at all
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ExThaNemesis posted...

video was really cool

did not like the song at all

This basically
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the worst part about gambino finally blowing up is that now people are going to actually recognize my "Camp Gambino" shirt when I wear it out, and I feel like I'm going to be judged for it as a short, skinny white dude.

I've gotten away with it for like six years now with the only real question about it being, "oh where is that place at?"
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FFDragon posted...

I've gotten away with it for like six years now with the only real question about it being, "oh where is that place at?"

"It's a great camp. We have a really great Bonfire."
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I feel like I'm one of the few who actually likes the song as something to listen to. The contrasts are great and the catchy parts are distilled to their very core. It's minimalist in that sense. And like someone said before it's the first song that feels like he combined everything he's done from Culdesac through Awaken My Love.
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Oh I like the song in its own too, but I get why not everyone does. It's like quasi-trap which in general I feel is very love or hate for a lot of people.
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I like the song, though I'd like it standalone more if it included the gunshots that are in the video. It feels emptier without them, but I guess without the context of the video it'd be kind of weird
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KommunistKoala posted...

I like the song, though I'd like it standalone more if it included the gunshots that are in the video. It feels emptier without them, but I guess without the context of the video it'd be kind of weird

Yea, I do actually wish it had the shots in as well but it's fine
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