Donald Glover has returned as his musical alter ego Childish Gambino and dropped the song "This is America" while hosting Saturday Night Live on Saturday.
It's quite a time for Glover, who is about to appear in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
In one night Donald Glover + Hosts SNL (a very black episode of SNL) + Performs New Song on SNL + Debuts another new song on YouTube (at the same time) + appears in commercial break for new Star Wars movie + Performs the 2nd new song in a hologram or something
Gambino was introduced by Get Out and Black Panther star Daniel Kaluuya before he performed the song on SNL.
Perfect person to introduce Gambino before he performs #ThisIsAmerica. #SNL
In the beginning of the music video, he places a gun on a red cloth, which people have picked up on as being symbolic.
Towards the end of the video, SZA makes an appearance and the song features vocals from Young Thug and has ad-libs from a range of artists such as Quavo, Offset, and Chance the Rapper.
Jaden Smith tweeted the video and said, "This is so amazing and true that I wanna cry."
This Is So Amazing And True That I Wanna Cry https://t.co/8ctcVY5eOS
Glover will be playing a young Lando Calrissian in the new Star Wars film. Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando in the original movies, called Glover "handsome and talented".
Feels good to pass on the light saber to such a handsome and talented Rebel ... and who was triumphant tonight on #SNL @ Donald Glover
People love that Gambino is addressing serious issues that the US is facing.
So many layers of symbolism -References to mass shootings & hysteria -Black men shot; meanwhile the guns are handled with care -The current state of hip hop; seemingly unaffected by anything going on I could go on. Donald Glover you nailed it. #ThisIsAmerica
Others said that Gambino references the 2015 Charleston church shooting in the scene in which he shoots a black choir and walks away.
Going in to a Childish Gambino song looking for a good head banger versus coming out of a Childish Gambino song with social awareness. 🤔🤔🤔 https://t.co/6ldmIkQavk
I really don’t see how anyone is that dim-witted to not see wtf is going on in this video. “This is America” and there’s riots in the background. He has access to guns. He kills everyone. He re-enacts the Charleston Church shooting of 2015. AND SAYS “THIS IS AMERICA‼️ https://t.co/7yM8DN0LdU
When you wanna count off the church scene as hyperbolic but you realize that #Charleston really happened.....at Bible Study. Also, notice how [black] bodies were left while the gun was handled with respect and care. #ThisIsAmerica
And people mentioned that he still managed to reference several dances, such as the South African gwara gwara dance.
And yes you did just witness @donaldglover hit that #gwaragwara dance in #ThisIsAmerica 👌🏾
Everyone: the dance moves in Childish Gambino's new video are so good!! Me, an intellectual focused on the graphic imagery of murder that happens in a flash & is quickly forgotten; which symbolizes gun violence in America being swept under the rug by the media with distractions: https://t.co/NSHTDujTZs
You can watch the video here:
