Migos' 'Bad and Boujee' Is Teaching Middle School Students a Valuable Lesson
As titled fittingly by the trio’s second studio undertaking, Atlanta’s hitmaking rap clique Migos are definitely doing it for the culture.
And now that a Georgia middle school teacher has multi-purposed their latest smash hit, “Bad and Boujee,” into his own adaptation for a history lesson, there’s proof of that.
David Yancey, an eighth grade teacher in Rockdale County gave his Civil War lesson for middle school students the rap treatment by spitting it over the instrumental of Quavo, Offset and Takeoff’s chart-topping single. Renamed “Mad and Losing,” Yancey’s classroom-friendly version tied in Abraham Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address, Ulysses Grant and the Emancipation Proclamation, complete with student hype men and ad-libs.
Once Yancey’s classroom Civil War concert hit viral status via Twitter likes and retweets, his YouTube channel of other popular singles used to teach students important history subjects has also come to light. Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” and Adele’s “Hello” join Mr. Yancey's curriculum playlist as well.
A lot of them I don’t know the words to,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the singles he reworks for his lessons. “But the students like them.”
His remixes for the students is a didactic method used best to help the information actually resonate with students, he shared with Complex.
"I try to build rapport, teach the material and ultimately bridge the gap,” Yancey said. “Too often teachers just tell students to learn things because we say so, but instead we need to meet them where they are. I ask the students the song that the kids are into and I adjust the content to match."
This isn’t the first time that the Culture rappers have proved significant for students, however. In January, the triad stopped by New York University for a special course and event organized by the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
Congratulations, Migos! You have officially (and quite literally) become one for the books.
See Mr. Yancey’s “Mad and Losing” classroom hit below featuring his eighth grade students.