By Ron Grant (Originally published on HipHopDX)
Americaâs relationships with both higher education and with Hip Hop have always been intriguing, even if a bit hypocritical in both instances. For the longest time, itâs been part of the American dream to attain some sort of continued learning to improve oneâs life. And for the longest time, Hip Hop as a whole, to some degree, had been vilified, shunned and looked down upon as music that was not even worthy of being called art in many circles. I mean, seriously, letâs not sugarcoat it or try to put a politically correct smiley face on the truth. Thatâs just how the chips have fallen. But in recent years, the two relationships have almost switched sides, so to speak. Today, higher education is still seen as both a way in for some populations and a way out for others. But the fact that the cost of a good, quality education continues to rise and is being put out of reach of those that really need it is causing somewhat of a backlash to the U.S. educational system. Ironically, this also seems to be one of the main points of Occupy Wall Street, a movement that has gained some notoriety within the Hip Hop community for its D.I.Y. attitude and rebellious nature. Sound familiar? While on the other hand, Hip Hop has entered and been welcomed into mainstream pop culture with open arms after years, and even decades, of being pegged as a scapegoat for American societyâs ills. But more interesting than both of these phenomena by themselves is that, in just the last few years alone, Hip Hop music and higher education have met in a head-on collision of sorts. More specifically, curriculum that pertains to Hip Hopâs music, culture, and politics has infiltrated some of the countryâs most prestigious institutions of higher learning: Harvard University, New York University, Duke University, Georgetown University, Rice University, Howard University and many, many more. In reality, Hip Hop and higher education have a long history together. From one of the very first courses on Hip Hop offered at an institution of higher learning in the form of âHistory 98: The Poetry and History of Tupac Shakurâ at the University of California at Berkeley in 1997, to books and studies used as required text at the college level. Works such as Tricia Roseâs The Hip Hop Wars, Nelson Georgeâs Hip Hop America, Jeff Changâs Canât Stop Wonât Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation and Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip Hop quickly come to mind. But there are also examples of emcees serving as guest lectures at prominent schools (KRS-One at Temple University, GZA at Harvard University) and respected public figures and cultural critics including Jeff Johnson and Kevin Powell serving as guest speakers on wide-ranging topics of Hip Hop at universities nationally. Hip Hop found its way to the head of the class a long time ago.
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