This is America: Kanye West vs. Donald Glover

Black fans of hip-hop, or more specifically, Kanye West mourned the loss of a hero last week. We all know that Kanye has an eccentric view of the world to share and refuses to be silenced. But when he appeared on TMZ Live and referred to 400 years of slavery as a choice, many fans and colleagues of his own jumped ship. Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Rihanna, and many others have unfollowed him on Twitter. And although Chance the Rapper and John Legend have both pledged to continue their friendship, they have also spoken out on how they vehemently disagree with Kanye’s “politics” and his “relationship” with POTUS Trump.

“My response is racism isn't the deal-breaker for me. If that was the case, I wouldn't live in America."

The same man who went on television during the Hurricane Katrina telethon in 2005 and declared that George Bush didn’t care about Black people now supports right wing pundit Candace Owens and refers to Donald Trump as “his boy.” What could’ve changed in America in the best interest of Black people that would make Donald Trump an ally for Kanye? What in the hell has Donald Trump done for Black folk? It appears Kanye feels as though either racism no longer exists OR that he is above it. The latter will NEVER be true, and yet my favorite rapper has come to believe it to be so.

So, Kanye pops up on TMZ Live and proceeds to put his foot in his mouth. “When you hear about slavery for 400 years — for 400 years? That sounds like a choice. Like, you was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all? It’s like we’re mentally in prison.”

This is one of the reasons that I implore all my friends and family to consider word choice before speaking, because once the toothpaste is out of the tube there’s no pushing it back in. Terrible, TERRIBLE word choice Kanye. The point that you were trying to get across was lost upon many ears, and you got your ass handed to you by Van Lathan while you sat there looking like a bad kid getting reprimanded by the youth pastor before your mom took you home to beat yo ass.

I get what Kanye was saying, I don’t agree with it, but I understand. Nat Turner was not the only slave to try and start a slave rebellion but the only one that was recorded in detail. Kanye couldn’t understand why more slaves refused to try and why they didn’t understand their power in numbers, he felt as though slaves chose to stay put.

But let’s be real, institutionalized fear was created from the moment the first slaves were shackled to the bottom of those slave boats was transferred and bred into every generation that came after. Watching families get torn apart, people being beaten to death, women being raped, and those who tried to escape being torn to pieces by hunting dogs will create that mental prison that he speaks of. The same time of mental prison that he felt that he was in once he became addicted to opioids, but I won’t get on that topic because Kanye has made himself look foolish enough this past week. And for what? Some publicity for some shoes that he’s about to debut? Grow up Kanye, you were always a better producer and rapper than a fashion designer.

It’s like he’s watched the artistic albums, videos, and performances of Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Childish Gambino and decided that they are representing an ideal (Black excellence) that is no longer important.  I guess with his recent beef with JAY Z prevented him from getting the gist of The Story of OJ: still nigga.

Out of the darkness and in the nick of time, Childish Gambino rescues us and lets us know that the struggles and strife of being Black in America are not going unnoticed by the famous like Kanye would like for us to think. This is America is not only a lyrical masterpiece describing the plights in the United States, the video is artfully crafted by Hiro Murai and Donald Glover himself to jolt and awaken emotions on the topic.

What can initially be viewed as a visually confusing and chaotic piece, each nuance gives meaning to being Black in America. The lyrics say: "we just want to party/ party just for you/ we just want this money/ money just for you," along with the images of a group of kids dancing alludes to the shucking and jiving that has allowed Black people to create some form of “success” since minstrelsy began. 

However, in the background, all sorts of anarchy are occurring. People are scattering and jumping to their deaths, and the images of police cars burning likely alludes to the riots of the Black Lives Matter marches. The dancing could represent one (or all) of three different ideas: 1) The children and Gambino all are clueless about the drama around them, 2) They are all dancing to distract themselves from the trauma of their situations, or 3) they are dancing for the camera or for social media video and know their dancing is a distraction or an invisibility cloak, seeing as those who don’t seem threatening will survive; none of the children were killed in the video, so whether you call this dancing, cooning, or surviving, it's a strategy for dealing with death.

This is America

Don't catch you slippin' up

Don't catch you slippin' up

Look what I'm whippin' up

As his hit “Redbone” when Gambino warns us to “stay woke,” the phrase “don’t catch you slippin up” is a warning of its own. It can refer to how little Black lives are worth these days in America. When discussing police brutality, many of the murders occur when the victim made incredibly minor or no mistakes at all. In March when Stephon Clark was killed while trying to explain to police that he only had a cellphone in his hand, the police believed otherwise – alluded to in the song with the lines “this is my celly/ that’s a tool.” Apparently, cell phones are weapons now, as “tool” is slang for a gun or pistol. “Slippin up” could literally lead to the end of a Black person’s life in the America that we know. And the lines “look how I’m livin now/ police be trippin now” continues the explicit reference to that same brutality.

Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy)

Guns in my area (word, my area)

I got the strap (ayy, ayy)

I gotta carry 'em

Beyond the deaths of Black people in America, death by gun violence is also an important trope played out in the music video. Whether the guns belong to the police, terrorists who commit terrorist acts, or those who carry weapons for protection, guns are a mainstay of everyday life now in America and it makes life a bit scarier than ever before. American culture is becoming symbolic with gun culture. In the beginning of the video, we see Gambino shoot a hooded man in the back of the head and walk away as if he is desensitized to the act of killing especially gun death that occurs on as the result of American politics. And later we see him dance in to massacre a small choir with an AK-47, alluding to the Charleston church shooting – he once again walks away, as easily and freely as Dylan Roof did. Even moreso, each gun after it is used to murder is treated with delicacy and care, much more than can be said for the bodies of the victims that are dragged from the frame.

Many Black Americans, specifically, carry firearms for protection on a day-to-day basis. Although this may seem glorified by the culture of music we are surrounded by, it is a harsh reality for many. Gambino is alluding to America’s persistence on refusing to tighten gun control laws and necessitating gun ownership. However, people seem to remain stubborn and feel the need to carry firearms.

You just a Black man in this world

You just a barcode, ayy

You just a Black man in this world

Drivin' expensive foreigns, ayy

All the cars in the video were old, unlike what we are used to with other rap music videos. The makes and models are mid to early 90s, if not 80s cars. This speaks to the whole idea that a fair number of Americans aren't driving new whips; many people are pushing boxy cars. And for those who exercise the stereotypes of buying unnecessary luxuries like foreign cars, this mentality depreciates their worth to nothing but a ‘barcode’ for corporations to market to.

In the end, still nigga. And if anyone is too blinded to see that, I encourage you to watch the video again, especially the last few seconds of it, when Childish Gambino ended up running in what seems to be a cycle that never ends.