Childish Gambino (Momentarily) Makes the Music Video Relevant Again

Donald Glover is having a moment. The actor/writer/musician just wrapped season two of his acclaimed series Atlanta, hosted and served as the musical guest on a pretty good episode of Saturday Night Live, and will soon grace the big screen as none other than Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. On top of all that, the video he dropped on May 5 for the song “This Is America” by his musical alter ego Childish Gambino has gone viral with over 100 million YouTube views in just over a week.

Eye-catching, interesting, and compulsively watchable,”This Is America” harkens back to a time decades ago when artists were using the video medium to do, say and show audiences a lot of thoughtful and creative things. Is “This Is America” just a flash in the pan or could we see the music video return to pop culture prominence once again? Either way, the Childish Gambino video is worth a watch (or rewatch).