RAP GOD ASL SLYT

April 5, 2015 5:25 PM

Amber Galloway Gallego performs Eminem's Rap God in ASL.
posted by jenkinsEar (12 comments total)

In other news, today Amber Galloway Gallego won the internet.
posted by grimjeer at 5:40 PM on April 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

OMG you guys her performance of Anaconda is my favorite thing right now.
posted by asockpuppet at 6:09 PM on April 5, 2015 [5 favorites]

interview on kamau bell where she talks about her job:

...sometimes you'll see interpreters and they're not as successful at music interpreting and it looks like a council meeting where kendrick lamar might be rapping like that and they're just doing it very very calm, almost like where is the music... so i add all the other layers like the instruments and those kind of things with my interpretation.

...how do you prepare for a show?

...i get the artist and i start researching the artist first. now i wanna know where they came from, what their life has been, where have they gone bc they might be mentioning specific places they're a part of. so then after that for about a week i listen to all their music and i just pull it up and... i get into the groove and i'm wanting to see how they say words and i wanna know how they actually sing and what the artist brings. and then i start delving into the actual concepts and getting it into asl so changing it from english to asl, so that takes weeks.

it always looks cool but really i have no idea what is going on bc i am missing allllll that context, doesn't matter that i can hear the literal words. gallego in a sign rap battle (jimmy kimmel, whiz khalifa's black and yellow) where 3 interpreters take turns. at the end around 3:10 they are all going at the same time and you can see how they vary.

i was also wondering if there was any reason you chose this song, and according to wikipedia, rap god holds the guinness world record for most words in a hit single (1560).
posted by twist my arm at 6:19 PM on April 5, 2015 [5 favorites]

I did my undergrad at RIT, which is affiliated with NTID, and had many many classes with interpreters. They were, on whole, fabulous and so fascinating to watch. Often times they were far more interesting and memorable than the professors who were lecturing. Thanks for this reminder of what awesome, beautiful work ASL interpreters do.
posted by mon-ma-tron at 6:29 PM on April 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

I demand a Rap Battle between Amber and Lydia Callis.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:39 PM on April 5, 2015

best of the web++
posted by effugas at 6:43 PM on April 5, 2015

Well, now I know the ASL for "nutsack".
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 8:10 PM on April 5, 2015 [5 favorites]

It's surprisingly similar to the sign for tea-bag. Be careful if you're invited out for brunch with a party of Deaf people, that's all I can say.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:45 PM on April 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

Damn. I'd hoped that Amber Galloway was a reference to the fake-tanned bigotted bully from Bradford. After watching his cat impersonations with Rula Lenska, the idea of him performing Rap God in ASL doesn't seem at all far fetched.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:38 AM on April 6, 2015

Yo, jenkinsEar, imma let you finish, but asockpuppet is right that Anaconda is the best thing ever.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:19 PM on April 6, 2015

Well, now I know the ASL for "nutsack"

And deep throat. Who knew Eminem could be so educational?

I lost it when they pixelated the vulgar signs on Kimmel.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 5:29 PM on April 6, 2015

I came across this interview about the experience of being on the show with Jo Rose Benfield, one of the other contestants in the sign language rap battle (who as her day job is Interim Director at Gallaudet University Regional Center - Southwest). From the interview:

First of all, before I begin, I want to say a big THANK YOU to Amber Galloway Gallego. She is a beautiful person, with a "deaf heart." If it weren't for her, I would not have been on the show. Originally, it was supposed to be a battle between the two interpreters. But, she refused to go on without a deaf person. She felt it wasn't right… that ASL belonged to our deaf culture. If you know her or see her… Thank her!

(Capitalization of "deaf" as it appears in the captions for the video.) Benfield also has a YouTube channel if you want more of her song interpretations.

Also came across this article: 3 Awesome Translations From This Sign Language Rap Battle on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
posted by Lexica at 5:06 PM on April 11, 2015