# Black History Music

[Stormzy - Superheroes](https://youtu.be/q-EW4-B11hw)

Stomzy’s /Superheroes/ is an encouraging message to ”young black

queens” and “young black kings” to realise their true potential and impact that
they can make in society.

Throughout the song, the Croydon based artist heavily references figures of black
excellence including Venus and Serena Williams, Malorie Blackman, Nina Simone and
Little Simz.

In September 2020, Stormzy released animated music video to reinforce the message
of the song. The animation promotes various strong themes hard work, self-
acceptance and everyday heroism.

There are also many references to the Black Lives Matter movement which gained
large momentum in the black community after the death of George Floyd.

Stormzy decided to premiere the video in schools in London, Glasgow, Dublin and
Manchester saying that “We’re all superheroes, as much as we come from where we
come from, we might be disadvantaged, we might have so many obstacles in front of
us, you are a superhero in your own right, and don’t ever forget that.”

[Dave - Black](https://youtu.be/pDUPSNdmFew)

Dave’s /Black/ is a gripping analysis of the black experience and a powerful

exploration of issues created by racism in society.

The song also features very strong lyrics that heavily criticise Europe’s colonial
history and the effects that he feels still has on black people today:

/Black is distant, it’s representin’ countries that never even existed while
your grandmother was livin’/

/Black is strugglin’ to find your history or trace the s***./

/You don’t know the truth about your race ‘cause they erasin’ it./

/Black is people namin’ your countries on what they trade most/

/Coast of Ivory, Gold Coast, and the Grain Coast/
/But most importantly to show how deep all this pain goes/
/West Africa, Benin, they called it slave coast/

Like /Superheroes/, Dave also pays homage to black excellence however expresses
anger over his own and many others experiences of being black. In the Guardian,
Dave described the song as:

/“That track is my experience. Me being south London, black, Nigerian,

that’s what I’m mainly basing it on. It’s a good representation of what I
associate with and everything that I think, but I don’t think that it’s
universal for the whole black experience, because there’s too many
different races and dynamics within the race of black./

/“For a black person who’s Senegalese, growing up in France, or a New York

Jamaican, that’s a completely different relationship with being black and
how you might be accepted in that culture or that world. Everyone’s
experience is different. Especially black women and black men.”/

[Childish Gambino - This is America](https://youtu.be/VYOjWnS4cMY)

Across the pond, Childish Gambino’s /This is America/ uses striking symbolism in
the accompanying music video to reference historic cultural points and convey
important messages about race relations in his country.

In the beginning section of the video, Childish recreates unnatural and grotesque
poses with his body and face that are subtle nods to old Jim Crow sketches and the
minstrel show era; times in which the depiction of black people led to stereotypes
that some argue persist to this day.

The video also frequently makes references to violence and police brutality; in a
chilling reference to the 2015 Charlston shooting, one very graphic sequence
includes the shock of Childish pulling out an Automatic assault rifle and gunning
down a choir singing behind him before casually walking away and continuing with
the song. Many commentators have pointed out that Childish could be trying to
portray the “normalisation of mass shootings in America, even in places of
worship.”

In the most powerful message of the video, Childish is accompanied by various

children performing a dance routine based on popular hip-hop styles and moves.
Whilst the routine is fun and engaging, many critics have floated the idea that
Childish’s intention is to create metaphor to show how we are “distracted” from the
chaos surrounding black communities in America.