Childish Gambino Admits This Is America Started As a Drake Diss Track

One of the most popular songs of the last decade has surprising origins. In a recent GQ interview, Donald Glover, known by his rap alias Childish Gambino, shared that “This Is America” originally began as a track aimed at Drake as a form of diss.
The song is a commentary on police brutality and was released in 2018. Making its grand entrance at the top spot of the US Billboard Hot 100, it clinched an impressive quartet of Grammy Awards, notably securing both the Record of the Year and Song of the Year honors.
According to the musician, his alter ego Gambino fuelled a feud with Drake in 2014 when he said during an Australian gig that he was better than Drizzy, Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q combined. While he later said the bravado was part of his act, it caused some controversy.
In his GQ interview, Glover said he started writing the song three years ago. The rapper said the idea was initially to make a funny Drake diss track, but it ended up being a more serious message about police brutality and social injustice.
It also highlights the fact that black people are more likely to be killed by police than other races and that they should carry a gun for self-defense.
The lyrics also refer to acculturation and how people are being forced to embrace capitalism and consumerism over their spirituality, which can lead to violence. The music video shows Gambino using a Kalashnikov-patterned automatic weapon to shoot a church choir.
The artist’s creative director Ibra Ake has spoken about the song and the video and has urged viewers to not judge the message of the video by its appearance. He said that it is “an important message for our society.”