First Nations Artists Release Spin On Childish Gambino Hit, 'This Is Australia'

You've heard Childish Gambino's This Is America; now it's time to get acquainted with This Is Australia, brought to us by First Nations artists in the Marrugeku dance company and Noongar rapper Beni Bjah. Watch the video below.

Bjah opens the song with the line, "We just want a barbie / Crack a can or two / Put upon your thongs / Aussie day is due / Oh, lest we forget / The footy’s on tonight / Can’t you just get over it / You know she’ll be right."

Later in the song, this hard-hitting refrain appears: "This is Australia / Look how I’m killin’ ya / Lockin’ your children up / Fillin’ my prisons up."

"Having Childish Gambino’s version to go off actually helped – This Is America had already inspired me so much, all these ideas just popped in my head. We could have probably written three or four songs," Bjah said in a recent interview with The Guardian about the reworked track. 

This Is Australia follows numerous takes on the Childish Gambino hit, following This Is Iraq, This Is Sierra Leone, and This Is Nigeria, to name a few. 

The inspiration for This Is Australia came from Marrugeku’s artistic directors, Dalisa Pigram and Rachael Swain, The Guardian reports. It was while Scott Morrison was still Prime Minister, and he was discussing plans to "re-enact" James Cook's circumnavigation of Australia (which didn't happen - read more here).

Pigram was struck by it and thought, "We were thinking, how do we respond to all of this? [Marrugeku] worked on the choreography, while Beni crafted up those amazing lyrics that hit hard in the heart."

Bjah added, "Australia has a fear of the unknown. What we don’t understand, we want to lock up or send home. And we’re the most multicultural country in the world."

After two weeks on the ARIA Singles Chart, This Is America hit #1 in Australia. This Is America also topped both the US Billboard Hot 100 and R&B/Hip Hop Songs Charts upon release.