Man names island after busta rhymes

Photo: Google Maps

Busta Rhymes Island is not a place. At least, not yet. If Kevin O'Brien has his way, though, his local island in Massachussetts will eventually share the same name as his favourite music star.

The land mass, which measures 40 feet by 40 feet, sits in the middle of a pond in Shrewsbury, just near O'Brien's house. The 27 year old man visits the island frequently with his wife or friends, fishing, canoeing and dreaming of the day the island's moniker becomes official.

"It's a very small little island [with] rope-swinging, blueberries, and . . . stuff Busta would enjoy," he told The Boston Globe.

How do you name an island? You start with Google, according to O'Brien. Speaking to the 99% Invisible design podcast, Kevin explains that he applied a geotag to the island, which immediately prompted Google Maps to recgnise Busta Rhymes Island as a place.

Indeed, if you search "Busta Rhymes Island" in the search engine, it appears. For many visitors, that is enough to make it official. Unfortunately, the legal side is somewhat more complex. Because the land is public, any Change of name has to be submitted to the US Board of Geographic Names. For the name to be that of a person, they have to have been dead for at least five years.

A street, on the other hand, is much easier, notes The New York Times, who did some digging to discover that all you have to do to rename a road is get the local legislation sponsored by a state senator or representative

"No one can remember the last time a request was rejected," explains the paper.

Photo: Fastcodesign

As for O'Brien's island, he has a back-up plan: take ownership of the land. Although an independent user of the island, law says that land not being taken care of can be claimed by someone who has maintained it continuously for 20 years. Busta Rhymes may not be deceased any time soon, but in a couple of decades, the singer's island could exist anyway.

The only other factor that can speed up the process, adds Fastcodesign, is public usage. If enough people referred to the land by its musical moniker, the US Board of Geographic Names would have to take it into account.

Busta Rhymes Island is not a place. It is a state of mind. But next time you find yourself in Shrewsbury, Massachussetts, ask for directors to "Busta Rhymes Island". It could become real sooner than you might think.