Man Skillfully Raps Dr. Seuss Rhymes Over Dr. Dre Beats in Must-See Viral Videos

(TMU) — Wes Tank may be a successful filmmaker and musician, but it seems Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order has provided the Milwaukee resident the opportunity to explore his true calling: rapping Dr. Seuss books to Dr. Dre’s beats.

While the idea of rapping Dr. Seuss’ famous words isn’t new to Wes, who reportedly once stumbled upon One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish in Minneapolis and immediately rapped the book live with the help of his phone, being stuck at home as many of us currently gave him the time to finally sit down and record the brilliant mashups.

Wes explained:

“I happened to have an Mp3 of Dr. Dre’s ‘Deep Cover’ instrumental on my phone. I made an impromptu decision to rap the book over the track. The crowd went wild for it. After that I tried other Seuss books over other Dre beats at live shows. People always really seemed to get excited and inspired by this part of the show. Dr. Seuss’ books and Dr. Dre’s beats went so well together that I felt I had unlocked an achievement that had been waiting to be found.”

As any creative person with too much time on their hands would do, Wes jumped feet first into his not exactly lifelong dream—but honorable dream nonetheless—complete with the goal of entertaining other people also stuck at home with too much time on their hands. Or make that less time, since the target audience is primarily parents of kids young and/or old enough to be familiar with either doctor.

“Since the safer-at-home order, my active productions have slowed and I’ve had more time to read, reflect and spend time with my artistic practice,” Wes said. “I realized that I suddenly had time to make the Dr. Seuss videos, and that with kids and parents stuck at home, they could be useful as teaching tools or just positive content to pass the time.”

With his first mashup, Fox in Sox, having been viewed over 1.5 million times since it was posted on March 28, it seems Wes is indeed helping people “pass the time.”

And while he appears to have set out to entertain parents and children, the comments on his six mashups posted to YouTube reveal that the budding rapper is appealing to a wider swath of people than simply his understandable target audience.

“This guy just filled a niche I didn’t even know existed.”

“I’ve listened to this maybe 7 times so far. Still not sick of it.”

“I’m devastated to think that there are only a finite number of Dre beats & Seuss books. Please don’t ever stop.”

“Dr. Seuss’ books weren’t part of my childhood. Rap isn’t really my thing. Why do I find these videos so awesome? Because they are amazing!”

Wes hopes both parents and teachers can use his videos “as teaching tools to make reading fun for children.” And he hopes it “makes kids and adults excited to pick up a book and read.” But at the very least, he hopes “it helps people to smile and keep a positive mindset during a difficult and uncertain time.” 

Check out all of Wes’ videos posted to his YouTube account thus far and consider subscribing so you don’t miss the next one. If the success of his first six videos is any indication, Wes is off to great places! He’s off and away!

By Emma Fiala | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com