Ah, the power of social media. It can make overnight stars of just about anyone with some gumption and a WiFi connection — which is exactly what happened to Georgia teacher Audrianna Williams earlier this week when her rap video welcoming students of Monroe Comprehensive High School to the instrumental from Jack Harlow’s hit song “What’s Poppin” went viral. Williams uploaded the video to Instagram along with fellow Monroe educator Callie Evans, it quickly garnered over 300,000 views and jumped to Twitter, where users expressed admiration for the teachers’ lyrical skills.
Even Jack Harlow himself was impressed and surprised the teachers during an appearance on Good Morning America today, telling them that they “made my song better” and “killed it.” Harlow shared how committed instructors had made an impact in his life and then surprised the teachers with a gift: Gift cards worth $1,000 toward whatever the two wanted. “I grew up with teachers that had a huge influence on me my whole life,” Harlow said. “What y’all provide to society is invaluable. I can’t thank you enough for doing the job you guys do, so just as a small token of my appreciation I wanted to give both of you two thousand dollar gift cards to treat yourselves to whatever you want. I really appreciate y’all doing what you do.”
Evans and Williams say that they’ve collaborated on multiple videos over the years, coming up with the idea four years ago. They have produced an end-of-the-school-year rap for each year since then. And while there are those who would love to see the teachers pursue music full-time, it appears that they are focusing on the upcoming school year, saying, “This video was created to calm the fears and nerves of all involved and encourage them to strive for excellence this school term regardless of the online instructional model that we are in.”
Watch the video and the teachers’ encounter with Jack Harlow above.
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.