Teacher Turns Migos' 'Bad and Boujee' Into History Lesson
Migos’ viral “Bad and Boujee” craze has turned into a history lesson for middle school students in Mr. David Yancey’s Rockdale County, Georgia classroom.
Mr. Yancey recently turned the Culture smash into “Mad and Losing,” a Civil War-based banger from President Abraham Lincoln’s perspective. He performed it in his classroom, and a video of that performance has become a viral sensation of its own.
“Emancipation Proclamation,” he raps while his students dance around him. “Listen up, heal the nation.”
In an interview with Mashable, Yancey said it took him four hours over the course of two nights to come up with the song, though usually he does this sort of thing in one night.
“My process would be [to] acclimate myself to the vibe of the song and take the source content and change it to what can bridge the gap between what they know and the standards,” he said. “Hopefully by the end they can see history can be fun if you let it.”
Yancey further explained his technique to Complex. “I am a middle school social studies teacher and I try my best to engage the students where they are,” he said. “I try to build rapport, teach the material, and ultimately bridge the gap. 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.”
In the past, Yancey has changed Adele’s “Hello” into “Hello from the Cherokee,” Drake’s “One Dance” into “Georgia Geography,” and Drizzy’s “Back to Back” into “Back to Creek” about the Battle of Kettle Creek.
Hip-hop has become quite the tool for teachers everywhere. Recently, Big Sean, Ice Cube, Ty Dolla $ign, and Migos helped a North Carolina teacher named Michael Bonner turn O.T. Genasis’ “Push It” into a literacy anthem for his second grade class.
Get a history lesson with Mr. Yancey’s “Mad and Losing” below.