Educational Tools for the New Ages: Positive Rap Songs Teach Mathematical Concepts

Three out of five children in the United States can verbally recite lyrics to a rap song on demand, but educators are not in a hurry to use rap music as a vehicle for educating. Babies, as young as nine months old can sing ryhtmic hooks from repetiously played rap songs, and usually they are the songs that no one wants to hear a child that young repeat. The speed and the ages that children are learning vocabulary, phonemic and self-expression, timing, rythym, recipricals, recitation, and memorization is at a much faster and much younger age than most adults can remember learning. Rap music is a rapid and large skill developing tool that many people are familiar with; but, unfortunately it's beneficial aspects have not been so popular. A recent Poll in, Yahoo Answers, showed Educators much in favor of students memorizing faster with the use of rap tools; however, fifty percent of them failed to recognize the importance of the beat and rythym. When I was a child I had to replay my favorite song over and over again to memorize the words. With today's catchy beats, children will hear a song one time and will pick up the words instantly. It should be more than obvious that rap music needs to be integrated in our classrooms on a frequent basis with the latest knowldge based mathematical applications and the hottest beats included.

Kenny Lee, the CEO of international record label, Flex Records, sponsored a recent multiplication rap project in Cleveland, Ohio that drew much attention from a wide range of professionals including rappers, daycare workers, church group leaders, and politicians. Lee said he sponsored the project because he knows the beats will make it a success and he believes in the infinite potential of music. When asked what the radio staions will have to say about this non-traditional type of rap; Lee went on a roll naming aspects of rap that were not generally accepted by the public initially, and then he passionately added that rap music itself had to have time to grow on the masses. When William Riley heard about the project his major concern was the age groups that would get primary exposure to the music because he wanted immediate access to the tool for their Mt. Siani Chucrh daycare centers. This devoted church group leader liked the idea of creating positive messages that teach math concepts, and with gospel music reaching all time heights in sales, Riley did not feel the world will miss out on hearing God's word in the near future.

School spending has to increase in research for these type of tools it would be a shame if kids started learning math better from their radios at home than they do from their teachers at school. Books and reading materials have changed in recent years to include racial sensitvity for more diverse populations and increased low income families, and with all that we know about music, the teaching of mathematics has to change for the same reasons. Many schools pay rap artist to perform or entertain students; yet, most schools do not have a routine mathematical rap tool that the children can relate to. For the last twenty years we have heard the backlash of negative stories surrounding rap and seen its "Bad Boy" images become more and more intriging to youth, but in the new ages to come we must postively impact the masses with enlightenment from every spectrum, including math. While many other music companies focus on material gains and self-indulging practices that hinder more than they help, the North is reclaiming leadership with more than catchy hooks and degrading commentary.