Childish Gambino is your guide to the madness that is America in this provocative and compelling video. And if CG seems a little more ludicrously ecstatic than he should, well, absurdity is perhaps the only appropriate reaction to our perilous times.
It might take a bit of magic, but you can consider it guaranteed that Childish Gambino will be able to dance his way into the heart of a pretty young things... even if it's only in his stoned mind as he waits for his chicken.
One thing that's definitely for sure: CG and director Hiro Murai is basically as solid a creative music video partnership as there's ever been.
It's not a travelogue. And it's not a romance story. It's a Thriller, burningly slowly over the course of five minutes where it becomes clearer and clearer that something awful may befall Childish Gambino and Jhene Aiko while on their romatic escapade in Hawaii. Just make sure you stayed tuned even if you think you've got it all figured out, because believe me: You know nothing about what lurks at the heart of this one.
Pressure waxes and wanes like the phases of the moon as co-directors Childish Gambino (aka actor Donald Glover) and Calmatic show us Jhene Aiko balancing the high life with normal life...
There's no finer place or time for an epiphany or a breakdown than a late night visit to the diner....
PS: Don't tune out after the final revolution since Childish — or, one of his personalities — heads out to the woods for some darker/weirder soul searching...
At its simplest, this is Childish Gambino and a teddy bear on a Ferris Wheel. But, things get way trickier as the ride progresses and the camera takes flight so we can see what they see.
This teaser for the upcoming short-film Clapping For The Wrong Reason doesn't provide enough meat to really determine what it's gonna be — perhaps we need one of those "In a world where..." voiceovers — but it does look intriguing with a cast that ranges from Flying Lotus to porn star Abella Anderson, and, of course, actor Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover himself.
Personally, I like to think it's gonna be an indierap mash-up of Slacker and Sunset Boulevard...