Nigerian artist Falz captured the spirit of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” while artfully tweaking the message for his viral cover, “This Is Nigeria.”
Falz, who released the clip on Friday, borrowed the similar spare setting and shirtless delivery that Gambino (aka Donald Glover) used in his widely shared commentary on violence and oppression ― but the African rapper managed to make it his own.
Falz told CNN: “The primary motivation was to trigger an awakening among the Nigerian people about the numerous political and social ills that we constantly face as a country. And more importantly to spark a reaction in the positive direction.”
Count Diddy among the impressed. The rapper and impresario shared Falz’s clip on Sunday, calling him and other artists game-changers.
“This is Nigeria, look how I’m living now, look how I’m living now. Everybody be criminal,” Falz sings, addressing such issues as violence, drugs and corruption in his version.
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