Robarts Library immortalized in hip-hop ode
It was only a matter of time before a trio of bored U of T students put down their textbooks, ignored their midterms, sat down to write a hip-hop ode to Robarts Library, and posted a low-budget music video on YouTube. Well folks, that time is now, that trio is local rap group Geak, and that YouTube video is “Robarts Mansion.”
Their lyrics, charmingly delivered in and around the “mansion,” describe the typical plight of an exam-cramming U of T student. The video opens with the three 20-something stars riding the escalator and singing the library’s praises: “We don’t need to get dressed up! Just show up in jammies and not worry about what people think. N’a wha’ mean?”
The chorus is equally complimentary: “Ain’t no place I’d rather be, hiding from students and family, sky-high 13th floor studying, in the sky…at Robarts mansion.” Posted on November 3, the video has more than 6,000 views so far. With any luck, the boys of Geak will experience the same 15 minutes local rapper Randal Paul did for his 2008 public transit Web hit “I Get on the TTC.” Go back a few more decades and you might recall that in 1986, a little jazz-fusion band known as the Shuffle Demons made Canada’s top 40 with their single “Spadina Bus.”
Anything is possible when you make beautiful music about Toronto’s most utilitarian edifices and infrastructure. Dream big, Geak, dream big.
