YO, GIVE ME A BEAT

(A Rap on L.L. Cool J)

L . L . ‘s no fool, tells kids “be cool,

Save up your pennies, or you’ll miss my show--

And stay yourself in school.”

At school I’m the teach, it be English I preach,

Hemingway and Faulkner are, to me, “a beach.”

They say I’m the meanest, assigning all those classics,

“Forget those, dude, give us L . L . ‘s plastics.

Lighten up, homey, you don’t know what you’re missing,

Street rap with us some, and stop all that school dissing.”

Sure, I’m no genius, my life is not a drama,

I don’t do crack, use correct the comma.

Thanks to Bobby Hilburn, I’m learning to relate,

But not my students, they claim ol’ Cool J great.

Though it’s no curse, hardly major penance,

When I ask for writing, I rarely get a sentence.

Talk about class, they reason with a rhyme,

“Forgot today’s essay--didn’t have the time.

Out rapping with the homeboys, last night, downtown,

We were not doing crack, just getting ourselves down.”

So, that’s my story--no $$$, no glory,

Someone’s gotta do it, and it could get gory.

If you want to see the street, take a drive down 5th,

Bums puking at you, now I don’t call that def.

Stop by your schools, if it’s truth you seek,

Listen to L . L . , and you’ll only get a peek.

T. S . REVO

Gahr High School

Cerritos