Wanted to share a few thoughts about the creation of “Survival Plan”, the latest Custom Rap I did for Event Rap. This was the seventh Custom Rap I’ve done in the span of about a year and a half, and although the subject matter has varied greatly (from cargo bikes to gene editing to sacred texts), I’ve come to realize that there are the same two main challenges with each one: 1) being able to successfully extract the key information to formulate a (hopefully) catchy 4ish minute rap song, without getting bogged down with an overabundance of source material, and 2) walking the fine line of creating a song that will appeal to both experts in the particular field (who are typically the ones who have commissioned the track in the first place), as well as your average layperson.

“Survival Plan”, a track about climate change (specifically its impact on health and health systems), commissioned by Professor Kristie Ebi of the University of Washington’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, was no exception. 

In regards to the source material, I was actually working with a little less than usual. Prof Ebi had sent the usual requested five links to relevant articles in her onboarding form, but all but one of them only displayed abstracts (due to academic paywall restrictions). She made it clear that she could send the full papers if requested, but I actually felt relieved to have slightly less info to wade through (while still feeling confident that I’d have enough to work with to complete the song).

All that said however, the one full article I could access was a doozy; a very technical (for me anyway!) paper focussing on “burning embers”, which are figures that help project specific climate change risks based on varying levels of warming and how they’ll effect three different adaptation scenarios (as applied to health systems).

So, as per usual, I spent a lot of time (probably too much!) dissecting that one full article and making sure I really understood the finer points before even attempting to rhyme a word. And once I did finally start writing my rhymes, I ended up with a fairly dense track that (understandably, given my source material) focused heavily on the aforementioned burning embers.

Professor Ebi had paid for the extra option of “Feedback and Rewrites on the Lyrics”, but even before I submitted my initial draft to her for review, I already had a nagging feeling that the lyrics were too “techy” and might lose the average listener as a result. And sure enough, her main feedback was exactly that: to lose all of the embers bits. Initially I was discouraged, because I had spent so much time learning about them and then processing that info into rhyme form, but ultimately cutting all of that out led to a more accessible song (which I don’t think I would’ve arrived at without first immersing myself the way I did). 

“Survival Plan”, like all of the other Custom Raps before it, was challenging (intellectually and creatively), educational, and a lot of fun. I’m glad it’s done and out in the world, where hopefully it can help Professor Ebi spread her important message about the risks of climate change as they relate to health and health systems.

And I look forward to my next Custom Rap challenge!