It’s crazy to think that we’re 5 years removed from Gambino’s “This Is America” absolutely taking the nation by storm. Not only has the eye-popping music video racked up 845 million views to date on YouTube, but the song itself also took home 4 trophies at the 61st Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Best Music Video.
Something tells me none of those amazing accomplishments and gaudy numbers would be the same had the song gone in its original direction of being a Drake diss. Ok, perhaps the numbers would be the same because people love drama, but I can almost guarantee those Grammy awards would belong to somebody else. In a recent interview with GQ, Gambino himself says, “The idea for the song started as a joke. To be completely honest, ‘This is America’— that was all we had was that line. It started as a Drake diss, to be honest, as a funny way of doing it. But then I was like, this shit sounds kind of hard though. So I was like, let me play with it.”
Of course, the punchline being the title of the song and the fact that Drake is Canadian, but it’s safe to say that what we actually got was not only a better product and a masterpiece but a lot more impactful than that diss ever would have been.
Childish Gambino says “This Is America” started as a Drake diss
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— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) April 5, 2023
