Dem Atlas wins United States of Song 2020 with "Pneumonia"

It took almost nine months, and a lot has changed along the way. But in the end, rapper Dem Atlas came up victorious for Minnesota. The song “Pneumonia" achieved a single-point victory for the second time in contest history.

The musical artist who stylizes his name as deM atlaS is only the second male and the first person of color to win. It scored 116 points, beating out second place Pennsylvania, who sent LGBT supporter and singer Vincint with the mainstream pop song "Please Don't Fall In Love." Vincint scored 115 points and was in the lead until the final jury vote was read.

When "Pneumonia" was chosen to be Minnesota's song, the world was not in the midst of a pandemic, Minneapolis was just a major American city, and Dem Atlas was signed to his record label (Rhymesayers Entertainment). The song itself was written in 2018 for the album 'Bad Actress', and a video release accompanied the album's promotion in 2019, making it eligible for entry.

Since then, the city of Minneapolis found itself in the international spotlight for all the wrong reasons, the song's theme took on a second meaning, and Dem Atlas was dropped from his label due to sexual misconduct allegations in June 2020. Despite (or perhaps in spite of) all this, the song resonated with public voters (1st place) and jury voters (2nd place) alike.

"Pneumonia" is a pop song with rap verses; the strong hook of a chorus ("I need you like I need pneumonia", "I don't need help, I'm not myself") speaks to the duality of the singer's problems, potentially pushing away others' help while attempting to tackle their own inner demons. Many listeners may compare his vocals to Andre 3000 of Outkast.

The victory is Minnesota’s first; it also strings together three top 5 finishes in a row for the Midwestern state. Cobi's "The Church of the Lonely" was 2019's 2nd place finisher, and then-unknown Lizzo got 4th place in 2018 with "Water Me". Pennsylvania's 2nd place is their first Top 5 result, and New York finished in 3rd place for the second year in a row with LP's "Shaken". Rounding out the top 5 are Indiana and Texas.

A jury of 15 people and over 55 public voters determined the final result. 2020 marked the first time that the jury's overall winner did not win the contest; they voted Pennsylvania for 1st place.

The song was recommended for inclusion to the contest by Yoav Agam of 'Undiscovered Treasures'. The rest of the results (which include the entries of all participating states and territories) are available at the Song Contests Wiki.

Contest organizers are taking a short break before preparation begins for the 2021 edition. The most likely city to host the next contest is Minneapolis, although Dem Atlas hails from St. Paul.

Congratulations to Minnesota for finally winning, and see you next year!

-Greg