Fan Art | What Does The Music Video "THIS IS AMERICA" by Childish Gambino Means? | @sethlinson PORTRAIT CONTEST ENTRY | 20 SBD IN PRIZES
Hi guys! It has been a while since I last made a digital art and it feels great to finally share another one to all of you. And I got motivated by the art contest of @sethlinson. All you have to do is make a portrait of any medium and you can win up to 5 SBD. That's one of the great ways to earn more SBD's, by joining contests. So I will take this opportunity to draw digitally and give you a well informative post.
My inspiration for this artwork is Donald Glover A.K.A Childish Gambino. To tell you the truth I didn't really know who Childish Gambino was before. All I knew is that Donald Glover is a funny stand-up comedian and actor and I had watched some of his skits/ monologue on Youtube. So it was such a surprise to me when I learned that they are the same person. And I started to listen to his music that was released a while back. And to tell you the truth, he is really good with rhythm and word play. But what really impressed me is how he delivers his message through his music videos. Like the song
Childish Gambino - Sweatpants ft. Problem.It's like the song and video was on loop. I really like the idea of that. So, speaking of music videos, let us dissect the newest music video of Childish Gambino.
And then, last month Gambino has slammed us with his newest single, "This is America". Not only Americans are singing along to this new hit but people around the world. It was a big success for the Artist/ Stand-up Comedian. It has reached over a million views overnight prior to its release. But, I just thought,
"Are the listeners and viewers, really getting the message behind this?"
It was not only the beat and world play that caught our attention. I was also the crazy music video. But did you know that wasn't all goofy dance and murders that is included on the music video. In fact people has many interpretations on this.
Well, I do not have the rights to explain this by my own views cause even Gambino doesn't want to even confirm the speculations, but in behalf of the people of the internet let me share some details that you might have missed on the music video of "This is America."
THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED ON THE MUSIC VIDEO BY CHILDISH GAMBINO - THIS IS AMERICA
Screenshots from Music Video on Youtube - Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)
If you have watched the videos, I'm sure that what really caught your attention was the two murders by Gambino using firearms. This clearly symbolizes the gun violence and shooting incidents against Black Americans. But I there's one more thing that you might have missed.
Screenshots from Music Video on Youtube - Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)
On the photo above you'll see that after he's done shooting he carefully hands it over to one of his teen dancers and then the teen carefully takes it using a red cloth while the bodies were laying dead behind them. This one symbolizes the Red American that cares more for firearms than for the lives of people.
The Dancing
Screenshots from Music Video on Youtube - Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)
From the start until the end, Gambino can be seen showcasing his moves and dance skills. Dancing with him is a group of young Black Americans who copies every move he makes which became the main focus on viewers and that is the main goal of the video. We we're so entertained by the amazing dance steps but we had missed out on what's really happening behind them which symbolizes that entertainment can be used as distraction of what's really happening around us. It blinds us the things we should be focusing about like the growing violence around the world.
Some people say that it was a dance of survival. If you can notice Gambino was playing the America, and the teens dancing along with him was not getting hurt of the violence around them which only means that if you sided with America, you will be safe.
Jim Crow Reference
Jim Crow is a character played by a white actor. He paints his face with black make up and acts outrageously, stupid and lazy which made the White Americans view Black Americans negatively. Because of this the Jim Crow laws emerged. This laws are the segregation of White Americans from Black Americans
Screenshots from Music Video on Youtube - Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Jimcrow.jpg/220px-Jimcrow.jpg
Gambino can be seen all trough out the music video mimicking the moves and facial expressions of Jim Crow and you can clearly see that on the photos below.
Charleston Church Shooting reference
Screenshots from Music Video on Youtube - Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)
This one is another race issue reference. In one of the scene in the music video, there's a choir singing along with Gambino then he suddenly shoots them with a rifle. This scene was so similar to the Charleston Church shooting incident. The shooting happened during a Bible study of Black Americans and then suddenly they were killed by Dylan Roof using a hand gun. The White American shooter was racially motivated according to the investigations
The Bible Reference
Screenshots from Music Video on Youtube - Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)
In the screenshot above, you can see a man in mask riding a white horse running behind Gambino and his young dancers. This scene clearly symbolizes the bible verse,
"I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death" — Revelation 6:7-8
So that's some few things that I learned and noticed through browsing the internet about the said music video. I think Donald Glover is a genius. He's done a good job putting symbols and and lyrics that will make the viewers and think twice and because of that you'll really need to watch "This is America" a multiple times. All in all, Donald Glover is trying to open our eyes to real things that we should be aware of.
Process
And before I end this post, let me just share you guys a preview of the process of making the digiral art.
This photo is my reference.
I drew the outlines first.
And then I filled it out with the base color.
Next, I added the darkest shadows.
And then I added some more shadows using the tone which is little bit darker than the base tone.
An then for the final tone of the skin, I added the highlights.
Next is the eyes.
And the full details of it.
And then I decided to add some shine to his bling bling. Haha.
And finally, some finishing details.
And there you have it guys. I hope you liked this blog and the artwork. And thank you so much for the support. And thanks to @sethlinson for the art contest. Things like this inspire artist to work hard on their artworks.
MARAMING SALAMAT PO!!!!
