PROVO — “Whatever happens, I can say, ‘Hey I rapped for 30 hours’,” says Joshua Palmer.
This weekend, BYU student Joshua Palmer, also known as “Jee Mingus,” broke the Guinness World Record for the longest rap marathon by rapping for 30 hours. The world record prior to Josh breaking it was 25 hours and 56 minutes.
Lowe’s Xtreme Air Sports hosted Josh as he rapped from 11 a.m. on Thursday through 5 p.m. on Friday. Going a full night without sleep, Josh was allowed one five-minute break every hour, so he quickly learned how to communicate and even hydrate while rapping. The rules permitted Josh to rap original songs, already existing songs and freestyle. During the 30-hour period, Josh rapped “The Hobbit,” “The Bee Movie” and “Shrek” movie scripts.
But the hardest part? “You can’t do the same song within the same four-hour period,” Josh informed us.
Josh is majoring in commercial music at BYU and is a member of a sock puppet rap group called “Sockhampton.” Many fellow students came to give their support during the rap marathon and recognized Josh’s goat sock puppet sidekick.
“How many people do you know that are going for the world record?” asked one of Josh’s supporters Ryan Liston.
People cheered and yelled as Josh hit the 30-hour mark. His message to all of us?
“Hey, you can do crazy things. You can try crazy things.”
