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Brent Forbes

Professor Hunter

English Comp 2

11 February 2021

Same Song, Different Meanings

The music video for the song “This is America” by Childish Gambino depicts a very

horrendous scene. Childish Gambino can be seen dancing to the melody at the beginning, and

then all of a sudden he pulls out a gun and shoots an African American male in the back of the

head. Later he shoots a singing choir full of African Americans. The scene continues growing

more intense and then the police start to chase after African American people. The music video

highlights the growing problem of police brutality in the United States. The music video for the

song “This is Nigeria” by Falz has the same melody as “This is America” but highlights a very

different issue happening in Nigeria. The scene starts a little differently than “This is America”

because the scene starts off more chaotically by showing people fighting and someone hitting

another person with a giant machete. The scene then continues showing what the life of the poor

is like in Nigeria which is full of murder, stealing and other harsh crimes. Near the end of the

video two men rob people wielding AK-47s and then are paid off by another person to let them

leave. "This is Nigeria" by Falz and "This is America" by Childish Gambino share similarities of

growing issues in their countries. They differ in that "This is America" is focused on police

brutality in America and "This is Nigeria" is focused on the drastically increasing crime rate in

Nigeria.

The music video for “This is America” has an important message for its viewers, and

does a fantastic job of getting the message across with its eye-opening scene. The message
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Childish Gambino is trying to get across is never actually stated. When he was questioned over

the meaning of the video he simply replied with, “that's not my place”. If you break down the

video there are multiple scenes where police officers are chasing African American people

around with batons. This was around the time where America was starting a movement to

recognize police brutality was becoming a serious problem. I believe this song was made to

highlight this. Although Gambino never said this was the reason this song was made, given when

it was made, it can be implied that this was intended the purpose of the song. This music video

was made for everyone in the United States, regardless of skin color or what religion you follow,

everyone should be treated equally under the law.

Furthermore, Gambino uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos when he kills African

Americans in the music video. At the end of the video, Gambino can be seen running from white

people chasing him with weapons. This video does an excellent job of playing with the emotions

of the audience. When Gambino kills people in the video, a sense of sadness is created because it

seems they were killed for no reason. At the end of the scene, Childish Gambino can be seen

being chased by white people with a weapon. This establishes a sense of urgency and makes you

feel sorry for the African American community.

The music video for the song “This is Nigeria” has the purpose of trying to confront the

problem that is arising in Nigeria. Crime in Nigeria is becoming a serious problem, and the

music video does a great job of illustrating that. The scenes are very brutal and show many

different people fighting, killing and robbing others. In comparison to “This is America”, Falz

actually gives reason for the music video. He explains all of the events that are happening in the

video. In the video, he talks about all the senseless killing and robbing that happen in the streets

daily in Nigeria.
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In addition to this, Falz uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos to strengthen his

message of the growing crime in Nigeria. He appeals to ethos by showing what it is like in the

dangerous streets of Nigeria. He shows the constant robbing and killing of others that happens on

a daily basis from his own perspective. He also uses the appeal of pathos. The gruesome scene of

people fighting, being slashed by machetes, and being robbed is meant to strike emotion and

make you feel sad for the people of Nigeria.

In conclusion “This is America” by Childish Gambino and “This is Nigeria” by Falz

share similarities and differences in their music videos. Both videos use the appeal of pathos or

emotion to make people want to change their ways. They went to strike emotion to get rid of the

growing problems in their countries. Falz uses the rhetorical appeal of ethos in his music video

by describing Nigeria from his point of view. He openly states the issue at hand and denounces

it.
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Works Cited

Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official video) - YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14,

2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

Falz - this is nigeria (official video) - youtube. (n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2021, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW_xEqCWrm0