A man is trying to name an island after Busta Rhymes

What started as a peculiar Google search result turned into a story worth chasing.

A reporter by the name of Sean Cole, who lived in Boston, was working on getting an interview with rapper Busta Rhymes for a piece. He went to the web to see if Busta had any upcoming local shows, so he typed something along the lines of "Busta Rhymes Boston." There were no nearby tour dates, but what he did find was pretty peculiar. Google retrieved a mapped location in the close-by suburb of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts labeled "Busta Rhymes Island." It had a phone number, so he called and Kevin O'Brien answered.

Soon Cole was paying his new friend a visit. What he discovered was that off the coast of O'Brien's home lied the island in question. The 30-something-year-old tech support worker and wedding DJ had spent the last decade or so canoeing to the floating piece of land to plant blueberries, swing on the rope swing, drink beer with his wife and friends, and cleaning up debris from other island visitors (mostly teenagers). Somehow, between he and a friend, they chose to call it Busta Rhymes Island.

He's already geotagged it on Google Maps but the U.S. Board of Geographic Names will not recognize it as official. This is because a celebrity must be deceased for five years before any body of land is commemoratively named.

"The thinking is that, when someone passes away—especially someone high-profile—it's an emotional time. Close relatives, friends, and fans want to honor the person. And so the U.S. Board on Geographic Names instituted a five-year cooling-off period, figuring that if someone is still beloved five years after his or her death to the extent that people still want a place named for him or her then, and only then, should naming be considered."

If you happen to be visiting Shrewsbury, ask for directions to Busta Rhymes Island so that it will count towards "local usage" – an important factor that the Board of Geographic Names considers for naming proposals.

[Slate]