And, the medal for fastest rapper to name-check Usain Bolt goes to...
Aug 21, 2008, 04:56 PM | by Simon Vozick-Levinson
Categories: Hip-Hop/Rap, Music, Olympics, Sports
Approximately two hundredths of a second after Usain Bolt casually destroyed the world record for the 100M dash last weekend, it occurred to every blogger on the planet that the Jamaican prodigy would be an irresistible subject for the right rapper. That speed! That swagger! That chill chest-bump! "Who will be the first MC to say 'run the tracks like Usain Bolt'?" twittered New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones on Sunday afternoon. Blender's Ryan Dombal independently predicted Lil Wayne would be the first to shout out Bolt's name — a fair guess, given Weezy's prodigious productivity and well-known enthusiasm for televised athletics. And a very funny message-board post (some NSFW language) suggested some sample Bolt-themed rhymes in the style of various likely candidates. (I'm particularly fond of the pitch-perfect groaner that the poster imagined Kanye West spitting: "I said I had to bolt, girl was like 'Are U Sane?'")
Anyway, now that Usain Bolt has trampled over another world record last night in the 200M, let us note that the Gold in this competition actually goes to EW fave Wale. In a hot posse cut that hit the Web yesterday, the D.C. dynamo brags that he's "ready for war/We bring it to 'em like Usain Bolt, gone!" Not bad, and you can't beat that timing. Someone give Wale a medal! (On a related note, Wale may also hold the record for the first rapper to name-check Michael Phelps, way back in 2005.)
So, now that that's settled: Any other artists you'd like to hear rapping about the fastest dude on earth? Personally, I'm holding out for a hip-hop crew that's bold enough to compare themselves to the unbelievably unbeatable beach volleyballers Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh...
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