As I scroll through my iTunes Recently Played list and see some of the classic MCs of all-time, which on my short-list include Eminem, Biggie, Tupac, and 50 Cent, I cannot help but sit in pure amazement due to the vocabulary of these artists. Now, I know Eminem failed the ninth grade three times, Biggie dropped out at the tender age of seventeen, and 50 barely made it through junior high; however, these men truly developed an unbelievable aptitude for words. The more I thought about these wordsmiths, the more I paralleled their brains to our very own Ms. Serensky. It would indeed be revolutionary, but I can see the headlines now: "AP English Teacher Leaves Job to Start Career In The Hip-Hop Industry."
It is the perfect storm because Ms. Serensky already has mastered everything about being a successful MC. Any avid rap fan knows that a good song is made up of extended metaphors, similes, extreme hyperbolic phrases, and multiple allusions. Check. How to conduct thorough research on major events or occasions in pop culture to incorporate into songs. Check. The ability to create a structured rhyming scheme with diction that makes sense (I make a personal guarantee to the public that she never uses the phrase "Fo Shizzle"). Check. "Call-outs" or direct characterizations of people who foil her, in other words, "haters." Check. Assuredly, she understands the importance of writing songs with a purpose to control the attention of a young and gangster audience. Finally, after multiple weeks of hearing her "Blog Banter" theme song, I am confident that she will be able to develop beats suitable for her incredible lyrical abilities. Which brings us to the final question... what is her stage name? At first, I thought about "The Enforcer" or "The Analytical Cynical Pinnacle" but with the help from my music/business associates Kregs Master Fresh and Schif Daddy, we have decided on "Bobi Know." So if the next song that bursts into the national spotlight includes references to Bengali families or giant Native Americans... we all will know.
John, I concur wholeheartedly with the connection you drew between English and rapping. Many people I know refuse to give rap the respect it deserves - they say it requires no skill and is merely "talking to music." They ignore the fact that, like you mention, rappers must have some impressive control of the English language. Rap would be boring without excellent rhymes and lyrics that contain some meaning (I know not all rap meets these criteria, but good rap does). With that in mind, I do not doubt that "Bobi Know" could easily break into the music industry, provided that she sign with professional music/business associates like Schif Daddy, Shorty Shoe, and Kregs Master Fresh.
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