Donald Glover Says 'This Is America' Started Off As a Drake Diss

Donald Glover's Grammy award-winning song "This Is America" may have impacted the airwaves as a dramatic record that highlights the social injustices people of color in this country experience daily, but it actually started off as a comical diss track aimed at Drake.

In a new interview GQ published on Tuesday, April 4, the actor-rapper, who raps under the stage name Childish Gambino, revealed the origins of the revolutionary song. He explained how he began working on the track three years before it dropped in 2018. Initially, Glover said the idea for the song started off as a funny Drake diss.

"The idea for the song started as a joke," Glover explained. "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 like a funny way of doing it. But then I was like, this s**t sounds kind of hard though. So I was like, let me play with it.”

Glover and Drake's issues stem back to 2014 when the "Redbone" artist declared that he was better than Drizzy, Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q during a concert in Sydney, Australia. After the comments ruffled a few feathers amongst fans, Glover addressed the reason why he called all three artists out during his interview with The Breakfast Club.

“Every rapper should feel that way,” he said. “Cause I feel that way. That’s my truth. I said those rappers in particular ’cause I feel like they’re the best. I feel like they’re the best. Kendrick, Drake, ScHooboy, I listen to them all the time. I think they’re just really good. I really do think they’re the best…I’m sure they’re fine with [that]. That’s the thing. Kendrick is fine with it. Drake is probably not taking it great.”

Since then, both Glover and Drake have settled their differences. Meanwhile, "This Is America" went on to win multiple awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Check out his full interview with GQ above.