[OFF TOPIC] Music Thread

[Olympian1010 8,276]

This is song has become my unofficial anthem for the YOG. Listen to it while writing articles, researching, and whatever else I have to do to say completely informed.

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by Olympian1010

[Olympian1010 8,276]

 

[Olympian1010 8,276]

Being as the forum is coming up on another edition of the TAISC, I thought I’d look back at the US entry last year. We were really disappointed by its performance, but we also understand that it just didn’t mesh with people the way it did in the US. I felt like the artistry was really under appreciated as well. Gambino uses a lot of clever word, but it’s the music video that makes the song. So, I though I’d once again share the song, but I would explain the finer points to people, so that they could better appreciate it as art. So here’s the video:

So this song relies heavily on symbolism. I’m going to explain as much as I can in a minute, but I’ll probably still miss stuff (and that’s some more genius of the song). This is truly the best music video in my opinion. Both myself and @dezbee2008 felt compelled to share the song, though we were pretty much certain it wouldn’t win (though we expected it to do much better than it did). 
So, I’ll go in order when explaining the symbolism of the song. The song is obviously a political and racial statement. 
1. The handwriting of the title. It’s almost in a “Birth Of A Nation” style. That movie won Best Picture at the Oscars, and is arguably the most racist and vile US film of all-time. The movie allowed for the KKK to grow it’s ranks in the 20s and 30s. So, Gambino is showing us what America is before most people even pick up on the symbolism.

2. The background choir/beat. It’s very happy, and constantly distracting us from the crazy shit going on elsewhere in the video. It’s appropriating an afro-beat or Carib-beat, which is common in American music. Americans what to hear the sounds of black music, but they don’t what to know the problems of black people. 
3. The man playing the guitar. That is the father of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon was the teenager murdered by a white security officer. The security officer thought Martin was reaching for a gun when passing him, but instead the teenager was reaching for his bag of Skittles. Trayvon was shot dead at the scene. The security officer has been a real prick since then (I don’t even want to talk about him to be frank.).

4. Gambino’s pants. Those are the pants of either a Confederate solider (the side that flight for slavery), or of a character from Roots. Roots is known for its portrayal of slavery. Either why, it’s a symbol of black suppression.

5. The poses Gambino strikes. The poses are associated with “Jim Crow”, and other figures invented to show the black man as uneducated, wild, idiotic, and dangerous.

6. The execution. Gun violence.

7. Gambino says “This Is America” for the first time just after he executes the guitar player.

8. How the pistol is treated. After it’s used for the kill, it’s placed delicately, and with care on a red, cloth. This represents gun rights. It shows how guns are almost viewed as equal, or even above people, in the US.

9. It’s a child taking the pistol. He’s literally handing the weapons and violence down to the next generation.

10. The black body dragged away. The pistol is treated with care, while the black man is dragged, with out care, out of frame. Read into that what you will.

11. The dancing kids. Dancing is the greatest form of escapism in American pop culture. It distracts us from the the real issues.

12. Gambino says “I got a strap, I got to care them” while looking at the kids. This means that it’s been left to black adults, instead of the education system and government, to fend for and look after their kids.

13. Someone is making it rain the background. I haven’t really been able to figure out the significance of this. I could have to do with rich people paying black people for their culture, but not paying to improve their lives. It could symbolize prostitution. Your guess is as good as mine.

14. Jordan Peele in the choir. I don’t know if this is symbolism, or just a cameo. However, there’s a case to be made for symbolism on multiple levels. Jordan is/was a black comedian. He often portrayed the “fool” type character, which would harken back to the Jim Crow metaphor in the beginning. He’s also made movies critical of the American attitudes towards race, that have often been under appreciated by critics because he’s “the silly black guy”. 
15. Gospel music. A big part of African-American culture. White people love to hear it, but often cut-down it’s significance to American culture.

16. Gambino’s entrance. He enters like a pastor preaching a message.

17. Choir gets shot. Obviously a reference to the Charleston church shooting. A white supremacist entered the black church and killed 9 people I believe. 
18. The gun is again handled with care by a child.

19. In background, you can see a man kill himself. He throws himself from the second floor. Obviously, a reference to our high suicide rate.

20. Rioting. The dancing distracts from the greater issues in the picture, much like in American pop culture.

21. “Watch me move”. Gambino is actively trying to distract the audience from the horrors unfolding behind him.

22. “This a celly, that’s a tool”. The kids are filming what’s going on. They’re using the cellphones as their voice to show people what’s wrong. Many of the reasons police violence has become more well-known is because of cellphones. People also record every single incident they see nowadays. However, they too are distracted by the dancing. “Celly” could also be a clever way of referring to technology, our phones, and social media, as a horrible type of modern prison. 
23. One of the four horseman of the apocalypse. He’s wearing a hood, and he’s being followed by the police. There’s been a lot of debate as to the meaning of this. We’re sure it’s the apocalypse, but we’re not sure what the apocalypse is.

24. The pause in the music. The amount of seconds is the exact same as the amount of students killed in the Florida school shooting. The background noise is also hauntingly similar to what it sounds like during a school shooting. It makes me cry actually.

25. Gambino also makes a quick mention about our country’s drug problem.

26. Lights a cigarette to calm himself. Maybe some symbolism of anxiety, which is also a huge problem in this country.

27. Black beauty. Americans can appreciate beautiful black women, but they don’t want to focus on the problems.

28. Not really sure what the cars symbolize, but they’re there for a reason I’m sure.

29. Running for his life. Chased by a mob. Maybe a reference to lynching. 
 

I probably missed some stuff, so I apologize to the awesome artistic who made the video. Hopefully you can appreciate our entry a bit more, even if you’re not a fan of the message, genre of music, or lyrics.

26. 

[heywoodu 16,182]

Quote

3. The man playing the guitar. That is the father of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon was the teenager murdered by a white security officer. The security officer thought Martin was reaching for a gun when passing him, but instead the teenager was reaching for his bag of Skittles. Trayvon was shot dead at the scene. The security officer has been a real prick since then (I don’t even want to talk about him to be frank.).

 

A dickhead as he is, Zimmerman is of mixed-race. Not that I care much about one's race, but if terminology is an issue, it'd be a good idea to use the right ones on both sides (since a victim of exactly the same heritage as Zimmerman would definitely be called mixed-race - or something comparable - if he were in the sad position of Trayvon Martin).

[hckošice 15,874]

 

what a shame, this is 2 years older for the TISC entry

 

[Olympian1010 8,276]

Loving her sound lately

 

[Olympian1010 8,276]

 

[Olympian1010 8,276]

 

[Olympian1010 8,276]

Woah, this was a nice surprise to come across.

 

[Bohemia 1,490]

This is the kind of video I'll randomly find on Youtube late at night, watch 6 of those in a row because of nostalgia and lose 1 hour of sleep