“Redbone” is about paranoia and infidelity in a relationship. As a slang term, “redbone” distinguishes a lighter-skinned black person of mixed race. Bino fears that his efforts to keep this woman satisfied will drive her away.

In a Genius video, Ludwig Göransson, the song’s producer, recreated “Redbone” and explained that it was heavily inspired by Funkadelic, George Clinton’s 1970s psychedelic funk band. According to Göransson, Gambino even sent him Funkadelic’s music as a reference point for the production, which was created mostly on live instruments.

Gambino first revealed “Redbone” at his Pharos concert experience, but it officially premiered on BBC Radio 1 as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record. The track received worldwide recognition shortly thereafter, shooting to #12 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. It got a second wind almost four months later when parodies of the song turned it into a meme.

“Redbone” was featured in the opening credits of Jordan Peele’s horror film, Get Out. In a February 2017 interview with Hip Hop DX, Jordan revealed why he picked the record for the movie:

Well, first of all, I love the “Stay woke”–that’s what this movie is about. I wanted to make sure that this movie satisfied the black horror movie audience’s need for characters to be smart and do things that intelligent and observant people would do.

The song won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 2018 Grammys held on Jan. 28, 2018.