Hopkins, SC (WLTX) - Students at one Richland county school is putting history to a beat and performing in a rap battle.
June 4th is the day sixth graders at Southeast Elementary have long waited for. For the last few weeks, students have been taking what they’ve learned from school this year and making their own raps.
“Everybody loves music,” said the STEM coordinator at the school, Yoland Daniels . “To incorporate music and core content area and let the students show their talent and showcase what they know, it’s just been a great fit.”
The sixth graders took topics they learned from social studies and wrote their own lyrics with Hip Hop artist, FatRat Da Czar.
FatRat is originally from Hopkins and says it was important for him to give back to the community.
“I’m alive again. I needed that youthful energy to remind me how music and Hip Hop in particular positively affects the youth,” explained FatRat.
Students were divided up by each class and created names for their groups based off top periods in history.
One student, Casyea, performed with the Ancient Greece group.
“We worked on all of our lyrics, we made sure the dances were hot, and we had to make sure that everything went smoothly where our pauses were and everything,” said Casyea.
For example of the songs, here’s some of the lyrics to one of the raps about the Reformation:
“Riding round Martin Luther 9 5 all the way, Joan of Arc swing sword on the English everyday. Europe wasted, your people couldn’t face it, Black Death coming on fleas and now its on your faces.”
Classes gathered into the auditorium to square-off against each other. After performing against another class, the audience would cheer to see who won the battle.
Daniels says the rap battle has made a huge impact on the kids.
“We’re surprised to see that they have retained so much information when using music as a vehicle to show what they know,” explained Daniels.
FatRat says it makes perfect sense to combine music with learning.
“To put the story of the Renaissance or the Middle Ages or the Roman Empire to a beat, it’s almost natural,” said FatRat.
At the end of the battle, Casyea won a prize for her rapping skills. She’s won two free hours at Jam Room Recording Studio to record her own song over the summer.