Doncaster teacher Ty Dennis covers Jay-Z’s ‘99 Problems’ to raise awareness of climate change
He’s a Melbourne college’s head of senior school with a secret life as a former hip-hop star. Now Ty Dennis has gone back to his roots and covered a Jay-Z song to draw attention to a global cause. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.
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The world’s got a few problems – and Ty Dennis reckons climate change is the biggest one.
The Doncaster Secondary College teacher has done a cover of US hip-hop legend Jay-Z’s hit 99 Problems to inspire his students to take action on climate change.
Mr Dennis, 39, grew up in the UK and was a rapper for 20 years as MC Tray, doing regular gigs in Europe and performing on pirate radio.
He’s previously performed at Melbourne venues including The Espy, Prince of Wales and Max Watts, and does freestyle raps at Year 12 graduations.
Mr Dennis was inspired to go back to his roots after watching a film by climate change activist Greta Thunberg earlier this year.
He felt the world could be in for a Hard Knock Life if he didn’t draw attention to the cause.
“It was pretty grim and left me feeling quite down,” he said.
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“I was talking to a few friends and they thought I should write something.
“I just thought of the song … and the light bulb went on in my head.”
Mr Dennis said he was a huge Jay-Z fan and re-recorded the song three times to do it justice.
He’s also filmed a video and developed a series of learning resources for other teachers to download for their classes.
“I just want to make climate activism cool,” Mr Dennis said.
“I want the students to be inspired and finish thinking ‘what can I do’ rather than feeling less empowered when they follow protests or look at speeches.”
You can follow Mr Dennis on Twitter and Instagram at @MrDennisDSC.
LYRICS – 99 PROBLEMS (CLIMATE COVER):
I was sat alone on the couch at home
Bored out my dome, so I grab my phone
Clicked a video on a random post
An’ saw Greta Thunberg say the planet’s toast
She said she had hope when teachers told her
To save the world just take your notes, but
She noticed those they taught before
Are same the experts that we now ignore
So she, skipped school and knocked parliament door
And said ‘I raise the alarm on behalf of the poor’
Man, I felt ashamed of the fact
I’d known about it for years and done basically jack
One day my sons go’ be like, ‘Dad
We understand the intelligence you claim to have
But, you did nuthin’ – man, are you dumb?
We got 99 problems but the climate is the one – hit me
99 problems but the climates the one
If you don’t know about it, I feel bad for you, son
We got 99 problems but the climate’s the one