Last week, we learned that Swizz Beatz was named the first Producer in Residence at New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. According to NYU, Swizz will host group lectures and provide students with songwriting critiques, among other things. We're ready to sign up just to have Professor Beatz read our name off the attendance sheet so we can totally be all like, "It's me, bitches!" As of late, it seems like hip-hop is more college-friendly than ever before; entire classes are dedicated to studying Tupac, and more than a few rappers are stepping up to the chalkboard. In honor of Swizzy's new gig, we had to study our lessons and put together Large Professors: When Rappers Teach Classes. IT'S SHOWTIME STUDY TIME!
Last week, we learned that Swizz Beatz was named the first Producer in Residence at New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. According to NYU, Swizz will host group lectures and provide students with songwriting critiques, among other things. We're ready to sign up just to have Professor Beatz read our name off the attendance sheet so we can totally be all like, "It's me, bitches!" As of late, it seems like hip-hop is more college-friendly than ever before; entire classes are dedicated to studying Tupac, and more than a few rappers are stepping up to the chalkboard. In honor of Swizzy's new gig, we had to study our lessons and put together Large Professors: When Rappers Teach Classes. IT'S SHOWTIME STUDY TIME!
Play (of Kid-N-Play) (2005)
School: North Carolina Central University
Class: Hip-Hop History
Complex says: Play started teaching Hip-Hop 101 in 2005 at North Carolina Central University. He even got his buddy 9th Wonder into the mix as an assistant professor (more on that later). Unfortunately, budget cutbacks forced NCCU to left Play go in 2009. But we're sure he'd already dropped plenty lessons about hip-hop history, seeing as how he actually lived it. More importantly, we hope he busted moves like these at least once in class.
9th Wonder (2007)
School: North Carolina Central University/Duke University
Class: Hip-Hop History/Sampling Soul
Complex says: 9th Wonder is better known as a producer, but he's dabbled on the mic (under the alias 9thmatic) and he's also dabbled in teaching. His first teaching gig was at his old school North Carolina Central University (he attended, but never graduated) alongside Play. More recently, he's been assisting Professor Mark Anthony Neal of Duke University in an African-American Studies course called Sampling Soul. Obviously, 9th is the right guy to ask. The only part we can't figure out is why Phonte never taught a course. He actually graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors from North Carolina Central University!
John Forte (2009)
School: City College of New York
Class: Music Therapy
Complex says: Fresh out the clink after getting a pardon from his boy Dubya, John Forte looked to turn his life around. He hooked up with the In Arms Reach Program—a mentoring program at the City College of New York that councils at-risk children who have parents in jail—and taught a 12-week music therapy course that showed young teens (12-15) how to deal with their emotions through music.
Method Man (2010)
School: The Learning Annex
Class: The Laws of Success
Complex says: Tical got his distinguished lecturer on with a one-day course he taught at The Learning Annex. According to the Annex, their reasoning behind hiring Method was that as an artist who becamse successful in hip-hop, movies, television, and even comic books, he was the right person to talk to about how to break into the entertainment business. But who were they kidding? The only class we're interested in having Meth teach is How To Roll Blunts 101. That way, we can study high, take the test high, and get high scores!
Jim Jones (2010)
School: Grand Street Campus High School
Class: Music Business 101
Complex says: Jim Jones teamed up with the non-profit group Entertainers 4 Education to teach a six-week high school course about the music business. Around the same time, he also gave a lecture at Fordham University about the same topic. According to reports, the class dealt with topics like artist management, creative control over content, intellectual property, and music business "threats." You mean the kufi list? Please tell us you mean the kufi list. If there's a kufi-smacking course, we will sign up.
Bun B (2010)
School: Rice University
Class: Hip Hop & Religious Studies
Complex says: Bun B was so proud to be teaching Hip-Hop and Religion at Rice University, he provided fans with a picture of his school ID. We're not totally sure what his course will entail, but we've always known Bun to be wise and thoughtful, so we're sure there's plenty to learn from a Trill O.G. like him.