Childish Gambino's new song "This Is America" includes ad-libs from Young Thug, 21 Savage, Quavo, Slim Jxmmi, and BlocBoy JB—a decision that was inspired in part by the charitable 1985 song "We Are The World," which featured over 35 vocal contributions from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Lionel Richie, and many more.
This news came to light during WNYC's new interview with Ibra Ake, one of the producers of Gambino's "This Is America" music video alongside Fam Rothstein.
"The idea was just a 'We Are The World' song, I guess," Ake says. "You know, there's a bunch of rappers featured, but he just kind of wanted to make a 'We Are The World' song with rappers. And really not them rapping, just their ad-libs. Just kind of reducing the features to jazz."
Elsewhere in Ake's interview with WYNC, he touches on some of the larger goals of the music video. "Our goal is to normalize blackness, and I feel like we don’t really think of it in that editorial way," Ake notes. "It’s, like, this is how we would like to dance, but we have to be aware of the danger and the politics of how we’re perceived and the implications of the history of how we were treated. There’s all this math you’re constantly doing expressing yourself […] We’re trying to not have to explain ourselves to others and just exist, and not censor what our existence looks like as people."
“We reduced it to a feeling―a very black feeling, a very violent feeling, but also a very fun feeling," he says. "If you’re at the club and there’s a shooting outside, you still have to go get food afterwards and you have to compartmentalize that. He adds, "Being marginalized is compartmentalizing trauma to exist in the world. I cant stop being black because of trauma and discrimination. I still have to live life and forge on."
Revealing that the song itself has been sitting around for a while, Ake explains, "I feel like this is actually one of the older songs. He kind of just has things in his head and when it's album time, it's kind of like, 'Okay, finish baking the cake you started.' So we've kind of heard this for a while."
So, what's next for Ake and the rest of Gambino's team?
"Hopefully making another music video people like, even if it's maybe not as salacious as this one," he says. "I don't think we've honestly had a chance to think of that. I think probably just wrapping up the new music that's coming out. I think we like to keep stuff under wraps, but there's more coming, and we like to think of ourselves as like The Avengers every time we can assemble and all our schedules are in line. That's happening right now and we're working rapidly to just get as much out as we can. Especially this last run, to really make a big bang, because this is Donald's last album. But we have some good stuff coming up for you guys."
Revisit the "We Are the World" video below and learn more about Gambino's "This Is America" video in our interview with dance choreographer Sherrie Silver here.
Continue for the story behind Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!" headpiece below.
