World record-breaking British school teacher raps for almost 40 hours

A British school teacher who rapped for almost 40 hours has said he feels proud and relieved after breaking a world record at the second attempt.

Daniel Alcon, 35, performed under his musical alias DAlcon and skipped sleep for two nights to rap consecutively for 39 hours and 37 minutes.

The English teacher, who is from Wimbledon, London, but teaches in Valencia, Spain, broke The Guinness World Record for the Longest Freestyle Rap Marathon.

“I feel very proud,” Mr Alcon told the PA news agency.

“I did it once before, which I failed, and that really hurt me.

“I just can’t believe I did it again. I decided to do it one more time and relief, relief is the word.”

Daniel Alcon teaches English at a school in Valencia (Daniel Alcon/PA)

His record, which was attempted in April and subsequently ratified by Guinness World Records, came after he failed to achieve the feat last year.

Attempting to beat a mark of 33 hours, 33 minutes and 16 seconds set by American rapper Watsky, he performed for 35 hours – only to discover the record had already been beaten by by Irishman Liam Reeves and now stood at more than 36 hours.

He said: “I thought, well, what what am I going to do? So I called up my witnesses and said, ‘I’m doing this again, guys, sorry to put you through it’.

“I don’t want to fail like this just by one hour.”

Mr Alcon’s rap marathon had to be overseen by witnesses to ensure he stuck to strict rules during his world record attempt.

The rules stipulated that Mr Alcon was allowed 30 seconds to catch his breath between raps, the beats had to be continuous, and he was given a five-minute break for every hour rapped.

“I just survived on kiwis, grapes and tea,” Mr Alcon said.

“I had my kettle there with me and I drank loads of tea.

“More often than not you’ll see me sticking the kettle on, I’m a big tea drinker.”

Daniel Alcon performs under the name DAlcon (Daniel Alcon/PA)

While there were ups and downs throughout, Mr Alcon said one of the hardest moments came at the start of the challenge.

“One of the most tiring moments was in the first song when I was feeling I was feeling uninspired,” Mr Alcon said.

“Before the challenge, I was nervous but once the challenge started I was a bit like a machine, I just thought get on with it.

“The energy levels were just completely up and down and I rap about that as well.

“It’s like, you think you haven’t got energy and then suddenly the energy just comes to me.”

Mr Alcon has been open with his past mental health struggles and his motivation for pursuing his world record was a chance to raise awareness of the charity Key Changes.

Key Changes is the world’s first music label exclusively for musicians who have faced mental health challenges.

The charity’s services range from providing a ‘pop-up’ music studio to inpatients facing mental health difficulties in hospital, to coaching to help artists overcome performance anxiety.