Entertainment
Ed Oxenbould's Raps Steal The Show In 'The Visit'
M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit is the perfect thriller to watch at the end of the summer. It has everything you'd want to make your skin crawl: creepy old people, spine-tingling moments of unabashed fear, a decent amount of gross-out moments, an unexpected Shyamalan-brand plot twist, and rapping. Yes, you heard me right: rapping. Ed Oxenbould plays Tyler, one of the two grandchildren who visit the aforementioned creepy grandparents. He's your basic charming yet annoying little brother, with the exception of two things: he's a germaphobe, and he's a wannabe rapper that likens himself to Tyler the Creator. His rap alias is "T-Diamond Stylus," and he raps about what he knows in his tough upper middle class life. That said, Oxenbould brings levity and comic relief to this terrifying movie and he does it well — especially with his silly rapping "skillz." So where can you the raps in The Visit ?
Because seriously, you're going to want to hear these more than once. Oxenbould steals scenes when he slips into his rapping persona, and even if you don't love his lyrics, you've got to admit that they're catchy. Unfortunately, they aren't available on iTunes (yet, at least), so if you can't wait for T-Diamond's debut album to drop, then you'll have to watch his exclusive performances in the movie.
You would think that Oxenbould's raps were really off the cuff and freestyle with the way he delivered them, but they were actually written for the character. According to an interview M. Night Shyamalan did with MovieWeb, the rap was created by another wannabe rapper: the director himself.
"I am the frustrated rapper that wrote those raps," says Shyamalan. "It was basically me writing jokes in rap form (laughs). I remember those days, writing the raps, it was really fun. I'd just be giggling."
Oxenbould's musical talents — and Shyamalan's contributions — in The Visit can be added to a long line of movies that have scenes where the most unlikely character raps. Here are a couple of them.
Simon Rex In Scary Movie 3 (2003)
This riff on 8 Mile is as memorable as it is ridiculous.
David Herman In Office Space (1999)
Probably the funniest and most accurate instance of a white boy rapping in a movie. Plus, the character's name is "Michael Bolton." It doesn't get better than that.
Vanilla Ice In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze (1991)
During the golden age of Vanilla Ice, he made a cameo as himself in this Ninja Turtle sequel. It was probably cool at the time, but now, not so much.
Anna Kendrick In Pitch Perfect (2012)
When Becca sings Blackstreet's "No Diggity," she pretty much slays and owns her first riff-off.
Noah Blake And Mandy Ingber In Teen Witch (1989)
The "Top That" rap from Teen Witch has become legendary and will continue to be the best of all time.
As The Visit and these other movies show, it's pretty amazing what kind of unexpected rap moments can come from the most unlikely movies.
Image: Universal Studios