School Is Cool! 7 Rappers Who Have Taught at Colleges
Rappers J. Cole, Wale, and Common all have sat in college classrooms and done their share of studying while daydreaming about being a successful rapper in the hip-hop world. But these days, many universities are bringing hip-hop to the academic world. In school or thinking about going back? Well your favorite rapper might just be listed as an instructor for registration, next semester. Don't follow Kanye and be late to fill your spot. Get a head start and check out seven rappers who are bringing their hip-hop expertise to higher learning. --Natelege Whaley
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Higher Learning!
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9th Wonder
Rapper and producer 9th Wonder, who attended North Carolina Central University, met and formed the rap group Little Brother while he was a student there. In 2006, he found himself back in those same hallways, as the artist-in-residence teaching the “Hip Hop in Context: 1973-1997” course. In 2010, he co-instructed an African-American studies course at Duke University called “Sampling Soul,” which examined the music from the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. 9th wonder has also done guest lectures at New York University.
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Swizz Beatz
In 2010, rapper/producer Swizz Beatz became the first artist to hold the “producer-in-residence” title at the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University. In his position he provided students with guidance on entrepreneurship in the music industry, as well as one-on-one sessions, group lectures, and mentoring on beat-making and producing.
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M1
Last March, M1 of the hip-hip duo dead prez became the Scholar-Artist In Residence at Haverford College, a few miles outside of Philadelphia. He ectures to students, speaks on panels, and leads workshops in conjunction with the schools Africana Studies program and AcadeMIX Hip Hop Symposium. As a collective, they are working on The Africana Digital Media Project.
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Bun B
Houston rap legend Bun B began teaching at Rice University in his hometown in 2010 as a co-instructor to Dr. Anthony Pinn's “Religion and Hip Hop Culture in America” course. In 2011, he returned for the fall and is currently teaching the spring course as well. The course is part of an initiative by the university called the Houston Enriches Rice Education.
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Z-Ro
Rapper Z-Ro, a H-Town native, landed a teaching gig at the Houston Community college in 2010. He taught a course on hip-hop history in the Houston area.
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GZA
GZA from the Wu-Tang clan recently created hip-hop study abroad with his course lecture series at Oxford University in England, and a number of European institutions in Switzerland, Germany, and France to name a few. His award tour lasted from January 27 to his last date in Vienna, Austria on Monday, February 20.
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Jay-Z
Although Jay-Z may not necessarily be the lecturer in the hip-hop course “Sociology of Hip-Hop – Urban Theology of Jay-Z” at Georgetown University, his lyrics and ideas behind them, are up for criticism, dissection, and analysis in the course taught by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. The professor has taught the course in fall 2011, and although it was criticized by conservatives in academia, Dr. Dyson proclaims that, “His [Jay-Z] body of work has proved to be powerful, effective and influential. And it’s time to wrestle with it.”
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