Students in the Business of HipHop Innovation & Creative Industries certificate at 麻豆原创 are keeping in the spirit of the genre: breaking new ground.
The first-of-its kind certificate lets students work hand-in-hand with industry professionals, such as Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, Jordan Brand鈥檚 Reggie Saunders and Def Jam founding Director of Publicity Bill Adler. Assignments include everything from writing educational raps to analyzing music videos with theory and data. This semester MC Serch will join a class to break down the music video for the 1989 3rd Bass single 鈥淭he Gas Face,鈥� a provocative take on the business crossover of hip-hop.
C. Keith 鈥淒oc鈥� Harrison, who is the founding director of the certificate program and one of its professors, designed its four courses to bridge topics ranging from the innovation and evolution of hip-hop to sport business management and entrepreneurship. His goal is to generate an elite group of business-savvy students who think differently, think globally and hustle forward.
While the courses focus on hip-hop, the goal of the certificate isn鈥檛 necessarily to provide students with a path to working in the music, entertainment or sports industries. It aims to challenge the way they think and approach situations and encourage thinking on a global scale. The certificate flips the script of hip-hop鈥檚 typical use in academia as a vehicle for religious, sociological, humanities or liberal arts learning by complementing these academic disciplines. The certificate program focuses on the business side of an industry that has been around since the 1970s and the impact it has had across music, entertainment and sports.
鈥淥ur goal is to make the certificate completion very, very selective,鈥� says Harrison, who serves as a Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellow at Harvard University鈥檚 Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. 鈥淭he four courses are quite rigorous, so our approach since the launch is to keep the finish line for only an elite group. We want it to be like becoming a pro athlete or artist (e.g. ballers) 鈥� top 1% to 5%.鈥�
The Ballers
By this end of the Spring 2023 semester, four students will have finished the certificate program. Since its inception, the certificate鈥檚 marquee course, SPB4023 鈥� Business of HipHop Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has filled up each semester as students continue to show a growing interest in the certificate鈥檚 offerings.
One of the first to complete the certificate is Denis Perez, who says the program has made him appreciate music even more and gives him an advantage for the future.
鈥淭he certificate has opened my perspective on how the business of hip-hop came to be,鈥� Perez says. 鈥淕etting to learn about the beginnings of hip-hop and the major impacts it made have made me appreciate it even more. This is such a unique opportunity. It is a great opportunity to diversify your portfolio and make you stand out to employers when looking for post-graduate opportunities.鈥�
Harrison incorporates industry professionals to show students how hip-hop and business connect.
Last semester, Grandmaster Caz, who has influenced artists such as Jay-Z, LL Cool J and Will Smith, spoke to 麻豆原创 students for the third time. Most recently, his visit focused on the role of innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity in his career, as well as a rap tutorial for those in attendance.
This August hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary. In preparation, Harrison is planning a number of special guests and moments for students to celebrate the last half-century at the intersection of music and business. Grandmaster Caz, Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, MC Serch, Adler and Saunders have all been invited back to speak. Photographer Johnny Nunezwill talk with students about his career shooting some of the industry鈥檚 biggest names, including Jay-Z, NAS, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Beyonce, Drake, Justin Bieber and LeBron James.
The Faculty
麻豆原创 faculty members Scott Bukstein, associate lecturer in the undergraduate sport business management program, and Cameron Ford, associate professor of management and founding director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, lend their talents to the curriculum as well as lecturers from African and African American Studies, who contribute to a course on the evolution of hip-hop. Harrison has also enlisted help from outside the university from Adler, Brandon Martin, Tuma Basa and Saunders, who all work in and around the entertainment industry. Martin serves as the athletic director of University of Missouri-Kansas City; Basa is the director of Black Music & Culture at YouTube. Basa was also the certificate鈥檚 first guest lecturer back in 2019.
麻豆原创鈥檚 Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology and Entertainment (CREATE) also has been an integral part of the certificate, providing both students and faculty. CREATE director Stella Sung and adjunct research animation instructor Ronald Hargrove helped Harrison create visual content for the certificate.
鈥楾he Napkin鈥�
This summer Harrison will release The Napkin: An Annual Report on HipHop Academic Programs online on Aug. 11. Started by Harrison, The Napkin will focus on content that highlights positive world news in hip-hop and higher education curriculum related to the genre. Contributors to The Napkin include recent 麻豆原创 grad and ESPN+ sideline reporter Hannah Jo Groves 鈥�22, current radio/television student Joshua Hammer and Adler. Groves graduated from 麻豆原创 in 2022 with a journalism major and sport business management minor.
Thanks to the forward-thinking professors, guest lecturers and students, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Business of HipHop and Creative Industries certificate is primed to stick around as long as hip-hop has with the culture鈥檚 tradition of innovation and reinvention. As Caz said, 鈥淗ip-hop didn鈥檛 invent anything, it reinvented everything.鈥�
