Hidden Meanings Behind Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' Video Explained 

He killed black men without being caught but when he smoked weed he had to run

you missed the 17 seconds of silence for the 17 fatalities from the parkland shooting

I noticed how the two times that he actually had a gun he was able to gently place the gun down on the red cloth and walk away without anybody doing anything. BUT when the kids are dancing around him and he holds up his bare hands and pretends to be holding a gun, everybody gets scared and runs. Maybe that's a comment on how "we thought he had a gun" is a prevalent justification for the shooting of unarmed black boys.

He doesn’t need a Grammy. The song is better than a Grammy or any award. It’s real art.

in the end they were out to get him because he stopped performing

I thought “its a celly. That’s a tool” was when police mistake a phone for a gun

The pose he took before shooting the guitarist 1:16 is straight from Jump Jim Crow 1838. The incorporation of historical references throughout the video is stunning!

I think it’s interesting how when the light high voices that sing “we just want the money...money just for you” the lyrics are almost angelic and makes u feel like you’re in a dreamlike haze kind of. While the “this is America” is almost like a jolt back into reality. Like you’re waking up from a dream.

I like how as soon as you get comfortable with the soft parts and start to sway to the melody, he shoots a gun and snaps you out of it, almost, as if to remind you "hey don't get comfortable, stay alert, or you'll be next"

This is what teachers mean when they say use evidence from the text

Man, the symbolism in this vid is amazing. You could write a whole research assessment on this. The ending where it enters a dark opening reminds me of the door of no return that is in the slave castle/fortresses in Ghana and other west African coastal areas. The dark cemented area where he is running reminds me of the pitch black desolate tomb like spaces Africans were locked up in when they were captured by Europeans. It's pretty sickening. It leaves people of all backgrounds into tears when they take the tours. That pose Donald does with his arms out in front of him can mean so many things as well. Bondage, surrender, helpless, no voice, arrest, death, lynching, etc...Yeah, you won't see this on mainstream music video play, if they do that anymore.

"Many on Twitter have cited that America has a tendency to applaud for black culture while turning their backs on the issues we face." This is such a thought-provoking line. I wish more people would talk about this.

Producer: How many secret messages do you want? Donald Glover: *Yes*

The guns are carried away carefully, and the bodies are dragged

He says “1, 2, 3, get down!” towards the end which may be a double meaning. “Get down!” as in dancing, and “Get down!” as in gun violence.

I thought that the "this a celly, that a tool" line was referring to how cops are commonly mistaking items such as cellphones and other things as guns in lots of cases.

I feel like no one noticed that all of the people chasing him at the end are white Edit: most of them were white

"This is America , don't catch you slipping up " The simple lyrics and soft beat eventually make you relax until it's disrupted by loud gunfire that startles you and reminds you that in America you can't let your guard down . Brilliant

The shooting of the choir broke my heart. I cant not see the faces of the South Carolina victims. Two of the older ladies who were killed remind me so much of ladies I went to church with as a child. RIP Mrs. Love and Mrs Hennigan

Here we are 5 to 6 years later and this still hits the same... All subliminal messages truly expose us Americans for who we are...

This video made me smart. The comments made me even smarter.

No one cared when he shot people and all the chaos was going on, but then he lid a blunt and suddenly got chased. Maybe that's also a point

He is a genius for this song. It's very catchy but the symbolism is on point. He really should've gotten a Grammy for this song alone

At the end he drops the entertainment and smokes a joint to relax, then everyone turns on him. We love you while we're being entertained, but as soon as the real you comes out and we see you are a flawed human, you're back on the menu.

“This a celly - that’s a tool” is a reference to cops shooting black men who they think are holding guns but it was a phone.

I remember when this first dropped and everyone all of a sudden became an English Literature Analyst

Great analogy! I had to go back and watch the video to catch all these deeper meanings

The chains give it away from the very beginning. Yes, it's a double meaning but every verse and scene has a double meaning and that's why it's genius.

Before he ligths up his cigarette, he joinsboth his fists to create a gun, his school dancers run scared at this point. He is representing school shootings.

it’s actually kinda scary that america is like this....

For once a song and video that has in depth meaning and really makes you think ! I had to watch it several times to understand it more and more . I respect this .

This video is one of the most entertaining pieces of art in history. This incites every emotion. Amazing work.

When he said “Youre just a black man in this world; you’re just a barcode” it might have been referring to to the fact that barcode scanners scan the white spaces in a barcode, not the black ones, meaning that black people are overlooked in America.

The outfits the dancers wear are reminiscent of the clothes students wore when the first school was desegregated.

Keep them videos coming I enjoyed it very much it was interesting

Amazing song and amazing video clip. It definitely has a lot of hidden messages that Childish Gambino wanted to bring out for the viewers to see and hear. When I first saw this clip, I knew immediately that it was not the only time I wanted to see it.

at the end when he is running, there is a slight illusion where you can’t tell if he is running towards or away from the camera, symbolizing how people say we are improving and getting better, but we really aren’t

The children dancing doing what they’re told to distract from the violence are also wearing private school uniforms showing how wealth is one of the few ways to get out. Additionally they never get involved in anything outside of distracting and stand by while the others get chased and hurt

This is helpful - I realized that the video has a lot of messages but I didn’t know the cultural points of reference. This video a great peace for art. Art that makes us reflect!

Masterpiece. Still so impressed by this vid.

The 17 seconds of silence in the video probably stands for the 17 people that were shot at the Florida school shooting

*When you pause the video but the gunshots don't stop*

Thank you for this upload!! Sadly so true!

When this video first came out, it was the celly word and him running at the end was what made me relize there's a deeper message here! I'm glad I saw it when it first came to RU-vid. I just didn't get the meaning, bt I knew it was a message there! Thank you for sharing this.

I know im hella late, but this is what i think: I was surprised to see the guitarist show up again considering he was killed earlier, and while I forgot the guitarist, his chord progression carries the entire song. By reintroducing the guitarist, Gambino tries to show us how easy it is to forget tragedies, as so many occur in our country, and in the video. However, the problem isn’t just that we have forgotten the guitarist, but that we allow his playing to influence the entire song while leaving him forgotten. As chaos ensues, and our focus skips from obscenity to obscenity, we forget to ask the questions that actually matter. Why does this violence occur? Who are these people? We let them fade away and fall out of focus as Gambino “shakes the frame” and they become forgotten, just like the guitarist. *I didnt make up that theory btw, but i sure as hell belive it*

he shouldve gotten a grammy for this song

Heya south african here. The gwara gwara is one of my favoirite dances

Very informative. ALways wondered about the symbolism. Great video and excellent commentary

"Gwara Gwara" Me: shit I thought he was doing the stanky leg

This song should be played on the streets right now. Period.

What an excellent analysis!

Great break-down. Thank you.

“This a celly, that’s a tool” - Cell phone mistaken for a gun

After the second shooting, he casually walks away through crowds of witnesses and police. This could represent how broken modern day justice system is, and how easy it is sometimes for people to get away with stuff like this.

Cool video. Just found it. I loved this song, AND video. Thx for the insights !

Great breakdown...👏🏾💯👀

Something I noticed was a scene where the camera follows him, and he's still using an exaggerated walk. The camera pans around and for a second, we see his face, completely deadpan, if a bit worried and concerned, and in a flash, he looks at the camera with an exaggerated expression and dances with the group of kids, grinning. For a second, when the camera's off him, we see what the characters actually thinking. Who he actually is. And then it's back to the caricature.

The distraction worked on me. I honestly hadn't noticed in detail all that going down in the background before. That video is hardcore as hell for a satire.

Good message❤

i love how 3 yrs later i find new things. this is the deepest music vid ive ever seen.

The first instrumental is joyful, representing peace, optimism and celebrates African American music. The second is a heavy trap instrumental, representing violence, consumerism and disillusion. At the end both are mixed together, which indicates a more complex reality, violent and optimistic all at once, or simply confused by media and pop culture which allow entertainement and horrors to coexist.

Did anyone notice that when the video opened up, his back was turned and there was no gun. But as he moved forward dancing and got closer to the man in the chair, he pulled a gun from behind his pants. It's like the gun came out of nowhere. That could symbolize how gun violence is so unpredictable.

Probably one of the most important videos ever made

I have watched that video at least 5 times and did not catch all of those connotation s Great video very expressive artist .

This song has more hidden messages than the Da Vinci Code.

When he says, ”This a celly, that’s a tool”, I think he’s referring to Stephen Clark, who was a black man gunned down by police because they mistook his phone for a gun. He’s telling you the difference

You know, a lot of analysis videos say at the end “let us know if we missed anything”, but this one is so packed with stuff found and not said that there might as well be another new video about it all

“tool” from the “celly” verse could also be interpreted as a shank or weapon, which inmates carry on them. this also insinuates that “cellphones” are deemed to be weapons

This made me realize that the video is scary but has a really deep meaning to it

also, notice how the choir sings go tell somebody, and then gets gunned down, silencing the message

the depth in this is crazy

Cool video! Thanks!

What about the fact that as long as Gambino is singing and dancing, he’s safe, but the moment he stops, and begins to “reflect,” he’s now being chased down?????

The ending with Gambino's white eyes and white teeth appearing from the darkness is also a reference to portrayals of Black people's features (like that GIF) meant to look scary, but here it's Gambino who's scared for his life 😥

It just hit me after seeing this music video a few times: CG is playing America....but the way his antics are hitting and his disconnected, chaotic nature.... That's Mayhem (played by Dean Winters) in the Allstate commercial.

2:00 he made his hair clean and not messy for the white person but he made it all messy for the black person

4:12 cars colors represent colors of the american flag; Red, Blue, and white.

Gambino was running at the last scene to escape from the cops. They chase him after lighting a blunt but they don't worry about the bigger issue. Like shootings, suicides and racial profiling.

Zombie like walk symbolizes how we’re all mindlessly wandering through life. Unaware of America’s grip on us. The breaks of emotion shown as variant energy are times of life and death, asleep and awake.

The running in fear was the culmination of the whole message. Meaning it's time to get out before or run for your life. Which is it? Could it be both? I loved this song. I can't wait for Gambino to come out with another one like this.

You didn’t mention that the people with cell phones had something covering their mouths. Seems to me like it’s some sort of rag. Whatever it is, it’s representing how people will document anything with their phones but never speak out and stop anything from happening.

When he stops for 17 seconds it is for the 17 people who got killed in the parkland shooting

I have to admit, that song really gets you good.

The analogy of this video is descriptive and educational

The fact they actually credited the original tweets for the breakdown that they didnt do is actually really sweet. Alot of people on youtube would act like they broke that down themselves.

Omg! He really did his homework to make this video more meaningful. Absolutely this video deserves a Grammy award for realism

Honestly out of all songs that portray a message, this is one of the best

THIS ! is literally an outstanding Art🎭✨

Even if you disagree with his interpretation of America you have to admit this is a work of art and took a lot of effort.

There was so much thought put into every single second of this video. It isn't given enough credit wow

Can we get a this is America part 2 with the recent issues?

I really appreciate the explanation of the music I do understand the music more than b4 thanks sister

"contraband, contraband, contraband" is a reference to Gucci Gang talking about cocaine. Basically the music industry with no knowledge of ground realities injecting or reinforcing such things into the urban culture.

I think the “celly” part could also represent how people record the bad stuff that goes on instead of actually doing something to help out. The guys holding the phone were moving their phones and there is bad stuff happening below them. As if they were recording what was happening.

This was 4 years ago but still amazing piece of art 👏

This music video is simply an amazing piece of artwork

Here's what also might have gone over some of your heads. The church choir represented a hopeful spirit and sense of optimism with the Black community. But once they're all gunned down, the spirit is taken away. Also, listen to the music the guitarist is playing in the beginning of the song. Sounds like some pretty, uplifting, African high life mixed in. But once the guitarist is shot dead, the song switches to a doomy, haunting Electro-Trap sound. This could mean the destruction of good, traditional music from the Diaspora and overtaken by this bleak, modern sound. Very deep video.

*The masks over the kids face reveals how people see the truth but are to afraid to say it*

I read somewhere that in the scene when the camera is panning out when he’s on top of the car, there’s a man with water bottles. Possibly referring to flint water issue.

I absolutely love all the innuendos.