Residente: This is Not America
Sony Music Latin and Residente sought to launch a lead single that would transcend the music industry to become a cultural landmark. They aimed to challenge the US-centric definition of "America" and engage the LatinX diaspora and global audiences in a conversation about continental identity, historical resistance, and decolonization, positioning Residente as the definitive voice of Latin American social consciousness.
Creative Idea
Reclaimed the word America by syncing continental resistance imagery to rhythms generated from brain waves.
Residente reclaimed the word "America" for the entire continent through a visceral music video that translated neural activity into rhythm, visually juxtaposing historical Latin American resistance against the US-centric definition of the term to spark a global cultural debate.
Translating Neural Activity into Continental Resistance
Worm Brains and Yale Labs
The track’s rhythmic foundation is a feat of bio-engineering. Residente spent three years collaborating with professors from Yale and NYU to record brain wave frequencies from himself and various animals, including monkeys, fruit flies, and worms. These neural patterns were translated into the electronic pulses that drive the song. This scientific approach was paired with high-end production by Doomsday Entertainment and 1868 Studios, under the direction of Greg Ohrel, to create a "visual tapestry" of Latin American history.
A Visual Encyclopedia of Resistance
The cinematography is dense with historical Easter eggs. The opening shot pays homage to Alfredo Jaar’s 1987 piece "A Logo for America," while the choreography by Beatriz Luengo incorporates visceral movements that mirror scenes of political upheaval. Specific references include the 1954 U.S. Capitol shooting by Lolita Lebrón, the 1973 execution of folk singer Victor Jara, and a satirical depiction of Jair Bolsonaro. The video concludes with a massive human typography shot, where protesters’ bodies form the word AMERICA across the landscape.
Reclaiming the Continental Narrative
Positioned as a critique of Childish Gambino’s "This Is America," the campaign sparked a viral debate regarding the linguistic colonization of the word "America." The results were immediate: the video reached #11 on YouTube’s global trending list and amassed over 9 million views in its first few days. To date, the project has surpassed 39 million YouTube views and 29 million Spotify streams, successfully forcing a re-evaluation of how the creative industry defines "American" identity across the hemisphere.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Sony Music Latin leveraged Residente's reputation as a political provocateur and his unique access to neuroscience research to create a multi-sensory experience.
Category
Music videos often focus on aesthetic trends or individual stardom rather than challenging deep-seated geopolitical linguistic norms or historical traumas.
Customer
Latin Americans felt excluded from the global definition of "America," harboring a quiet resentment toward the term's US-centric appropriation.
Culture
Growing global movements for decolonization and the viral success of "This Is America" created the perfect moment for a continental rebuttal.
Company
Sony Music Latin leveraged Residente's reputation as a political provocateur and his unique access to neuroscience research to create a multi-sensory experience.
Category
Music videos often focus on aesthetic trends or individual stardom rather than challenging deep-seated geopolitical linguistic norms or historical traumas.
Strategy:
Reclaim a hijacked cultural identity by exposing the linguistic exclusion inherent in a dominant global narrative.
Customer
Latin Americans felt excluded from the global definition of "America," harboring a quiet resentment toward the term's US-centric appropriation.
Culture
Growing global movements for decolonization and the viral success of "This Is America" created the perfect moment for a continental rebuttal.
Strategy:
Reclaim a hijacked cultural identity by exposing the linguistic exclusion inherent in a dominant global narrative.
Strategy Technique
Attack a Cultural Blind Spot
It exposes the global habit of equating "America" solely with the USA, forcing audiences to confront the erasure of Latin American history and geography in mainstream discourse.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Take a Real Stand
The campaign explicitly challenges the linguistic and cultural colonization of the word "America," using provocative historical imagery to demand a continental identity shift beyond the United States' borders.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional due to its uncompromising Cinematography and Production Design, which transform political commentary into a series of haunting, high-art tableaus.
The use of framing and movement captures the scale of social unrest while maintaining an intimate, human focus.
The meticulous recreation of historical and cultural symbols creates a rich, layered visual narrative.
The synergy between the rhythmic editing and the visceral cinematography creates a sensory experience that feels like a call to action.
