Childish Gambino's Manager Issues Statement On 'This Is America' Theft Allegations

In the words of Childish Gambino, "This is America," and the world wide web attempted to catch him slipping. Yesterday (June 24), music fans across social media claimed that Gambino's "This Is America" sounded similar to a 2016 song, "American Pharaoh" by Jase Harley. Numerous people on Twitter and Instagram compared Glover's No. 1 single to Harley's ad-libs, flow, delivery, and the song's beat. In a since-deleted tweet, Fam Udeorji — Donald's manager, Atlanta music supervisor, and co-principal of Wolf + Rothstein — speedily took to Twitter to debunk the accusation.


"The Internet is a place of no implications Fam wrote. "I hate that Toronto Akademiks/every white blogger can mention something as gospel and y'all take it. This song is 3 yrs old, and we have pro equipment files to prove it. Nevertheless fuck you and your moms, and your future fetuses. Stay blessed."


Once the controversy began to increase steam, Harley posted his take on the scenario to Instagram stating he was "humbled to be recognized," however asking that fans didn't "dilute the message" that he and Gambino were attempting to convey. In the comments, the New York rapper admitted that he habitually felt my song inspired ["This Is America"] lol from the opening time I heard it."


In a May interview on WNYC's "The Takeaway", Gambino's creative director, Ibra Ake, ironically talked how they attempt to prepare their art in a vacuum.


"As creators who are sort of marginalized with our voice, we attempt to prepare stuff in a vacuum in a way where we’re not influenced by what was made before us, which typically — in the media specifically — comes from a white world plus a white infrastructure or a system that is controlled by white people," Ake mentioned. "So even with this video, we sort of reduced it to a feeling — a very black feeling, a very violent feeling, nevertheless also a very fun feeling."


This is America, and the conspiracy theories about the origins of Gambino's hit single are sure to continue.