John Brown rap! Finally!

Much props, respect and thanks to our friend and hip-hop education content maestro, Peter DiLalla, a.k.a. MC LaLa.

He’s done it again ladies and gentlemen: put history to a beat, guaranteeing your students (and perhaps you, too) will learn all about the very important John Brown, have fun while you’re doing it, and never forget who this guy was and why we should care.

“Border Ruffians, you’re going down.” YES.

Be sure to check out MC LaLa’s YouTube page for more of the good stuff. Here’s the video (lyrics below):

White skin, white beard John Brown’s the name
in the 1800’s I rose to fame.
At the time slavery was spreading west,
In 1855, Kansas was a mess.
Congress was stumped on what to do
So they pushed the Kansas-Nebraska Act through
Elections were held to decide its fate
Would it end up a free or slave state?
Popular Sovereignty was the intent
but they ended up with two different governments
one pro-slavery and one against
Now a voice from God told me to head out west
I must defend the abolitionist cause
and punish those who ignore god’s laws.
If I shed blood then let it be.
We’ll prove our point in Pottawatomie.

Kansas, it’s going down
get on your horse let’s ride with John Brown
The Pro-Slavery camp is going down
cause abolitionists are running this town

Border Ruffians, you’re going down
things have changed now I run this town
The Pro-Slavery Camp is going down
cause abolitionists are running this town

After Kansas, the fight won’t cease
so I carried my campaign to the east.
Harper’s Ferry was the place to meet.
a Virginia town that was packing heat
I gathered my men, we rushed like a bull
the gates of a federal arsenal.
We took control step 1 complete
A full scale rebellion would be quite a feat
But the scheme didn’t work out as well as planned
when Robert E. Lee came and took a stand.
“This lawlessness won’t be tolerated
let’s punish those who collaborated”
After my trial I was put to death
but opinions were when I took my last breath
a hero to some, others said what for?
My actions pushed the nation to war.

Virginia, it’s going down
get on your horse let’s ride with John Brown
the pro-slavery camp is going down
cuz abolitionists are running this town

All across the country, it’s going down
the north and south are ready to throw down
I’m seeing nothin but mean spirited frowns
cause any way you see it guaranteed to go down