Childish Gambino ‘accused of stealing elements of This Is America from rapper Jase Harley’

Childish Gambino’s politically charged hit song, This Is America, debuted at number one on
the US Billboard Hot 100, was widely praised for opening a new dialogue about gun violence in America and its provocative video spawned numerous parodies.

However, the success of the critically-accompanied track is being quickly overshadowed by allegations of plagiarism.


The 34-year-old entertainer’s artistry has been called into question after fans noticed similarities between This Is America and a song by lesser-known rapper Jase Harley.

According to some hip hop taste makers, the monster hit, released on 5 May, copies elements from American Pharaoh, from Harley’s 2016 album Free Pxrn: The Memoir of an American Heathen.

This Is America, which has amassed almost 300 million YouTube views, is said to not only share the same subject matter as the American Pharaoh but a similar instrumental and vocal inflection.


One person wrote: ‘So Childish Gambino straight-up stole “This is America” from an obscure rappers’s song released in 2016 without even crediting or contacting them. This is such a disgustingly blatant ripoff and it sucks that Donald Glover is getting away with it.’

Another person said claims that Childish Gambino stole the work and didn’t give a shout out were worsened by the fact that Jase was a ‘starving artist’.

While Childish Gambino, AKA Donald Glover, has yet to address the allegations, New Jersey- based Jase said he noticed the similarities as soon as he heard This Is America and wished that Childish Gambino had given him the credit he deserved.

‘Yeaaa lol it’s cool tho.. glad they liked my song. It’s all love,’ he told fans in a series of Instagram comments as the controversy boiled over on social media.


‘A shout out would be cool. All good tho… he’s a great artist, dope I could’ve had some influence on the record.