Photo courtesy of Twitter | Some of B.o.B.’s tweets on the subject of “flat-Earth theory,” along with a picture he tweeted with the caption: “The cities in the background are approx. 16 miles apart… where is the curve? please explain this.”
The debate about whether the earth is flat or a sphere is, apparently, not quite settled. Rapper B.o.B., whose real name is Bobby Ray Simmons, recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to help him prove that the earth is flat.
The bio on the page says that the rapper is raising money to “Help support B.o.B purchase and launch one, if not multiple, satellites into space.” The rapper does not trust the satellites that are currently in orbit, as he believes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is part of a conspiracy attempting to convince the world that the earth is not flat.
“I have to think it’s crazy just for the fact that I’ve gone through this schooling where they’ve told you this is a sphere that we’re living on,” junior marketing entrepreneurship major Matt Schneider said. “We live in orbit and I’ve seen pictures like that my entire life. It’s hard for someone to come in and just have a completely different take on that. But, Kyrie Irving is also in this boat, and I would like to trust Kyrie and B.o.B, but come on. Let’s be real.”
B.o.B. tweeted out a picture of himself with two cities in the background, saying “The cities in the background are approx. 16miles apart… where is the curve ? please explain this (sic),” revealing his belief in a flat earth to the world. Renowned astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson responded to B.o.B. providing scientific evidence that the earth is round. B.o.B. later released a song called “Flatline” about his personal beliefs that also accused Tyson of being and part of the conspiracy, saying “Neil Tyson needs to loosen up his vest / They probably write that man one hell of a check.”
As of 3 p.m. Monday, the campaign has raised $1,941 out of its $1 million goal. Most of the people who donated left behind facetious comments, saying things such as “I’d chip in for you to take some science classes.” There are, however, a few people who appear to support the rapper’s doubts, such as Dawn Richards, who commented on Sept. 24:
“Gota agree w other comment, low earth orbit jet, YOU KNOW ,YOU CANT GET TO “OUTER SPACE” IT ONLY EXIST IN NASA BASEMENT. WE CANT GET PASSED VAN ALLEN BELTS 🙂 OOPS I MEAN FIRMAMENT!!!! SHOW ME CURVED WATER, IS MY FAV SAYIN!!! U ROCK B.O.B.!!! (sic)”
Schneider said, “Mother of God,” under his breath when he heard how much the rapper has raised for his research and believes that the money being donated could go toward better causes.
“I think people waste money on a lot of things,” Schneider said. “I mean, everyone has a little bit of excess income, (but) for you to be throwing that to B.o.B. to do some scientific studies, that’s kind of weird. You should be a little more aware of what non-profits are in your neighborhood and the funding they need, but I don’t want to tell anyone what to do with their money. Me, personally, I would never give money to B.o.B.”
By: Kevin Thomas ~Campus News Editor~