Rappers with High GPAs and Academic Achievements: As Real as It Gets
Hip-hop, since its inception at Bronx block parties by pioneers like DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash, has been a grassroots art form - a people's music, popular music, even folk music. For generations, rappers have strived for authenticity, often portraying narratives of dropping out of school, living a life of crime, and a sudden rise from poverty to wealth. Even rappers who went to college will often play down their education as not being real enough. Meanwhile, hip-hop has become a serious field of academic study - consider producer 9th Wonder’s residency at North Carolina Central University, or the Harvard University fellowship for hip-hop scholarship established by Nas. Majoring in hip-hop isn’t even one of the most unusual college degrees anymore. It's not to say that rappers do not possess extraordinary gifts: Flava Flav, before he was a reality-show embarrassment, was a musical prodigy, capable of playing more than a dozen instruments by ear, without any formal musical training, by his teenage years. Eminem raps with a vocabulary rivalling Shakespeare’s, while Wu-Tang members GZA and Ghostface Killah have vocabularies even larger. Hip-hop producers have been responsible for more technical innovations in recording than they will likely ever be fully credited for. For the most part, though, those skills are self-taught, not from formal education. Rappers who went to college are as unique as can be - Native Tongues and backpacker MCs, hard-core gangsta and Dirty South rappers, pop stars and underground. Their degrees are from major research universities and liberal arts colleges and HBCUs. This article explores the academic backgrounds and achievements of several prominent rappers, demonstrating that success in the music industry and a commitment to education are not mutually exclusive.
The Myth of the Uneducated Rapper
The entertainment industry is often perceived as a young person's game, leading many to believe that formal education takes a backseat to career aspirations. The road to fame and fortune often doesn't include a traditional path through the education system, particularly since the entertainment industry tends to be a young person's game. Actors, athletes, musicians - all sorts of celebs have juggled the pursuit of knowledge with the pursuit of their careers to varying degrees… and varying degrees. There's Eminem, for example, who failed one grade multiple times. Though he was far from being studious, he would later go on to become one of the best-selling artists, breaking various records in the US and across the pond. Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he attended Eli Whitney High School, according to author Dennis Abrams biography, Jay-Z (Hip-Hop Stars). Looking back on his trajectory to superstardom and his lack of formal education, the "Empire State of Mind" artist knows just how special he really is. During a cross-country school tour (via Billboard), he stopped by Chicago's Marshall High School and warned a group of students that he's "the exception to the rule," adding, "There's not too many Jay-Z's. I'm one in a billion. That's not happening every day. To get a better understanding about Marshall "Eminem" Mathers' feelings on education, just listen to his 2002 track, "White America," where he effortlessly rhymes: "But I could rap, so fk school, I'm too cool to go back / Give me the mic! Show me where the fg studio's at!" To say the poetic lyricist hated school is an understatement. Because he moved often and changed schools up to three times per year, he told 60 Minutes that he was a victim of bullying. Unable to connect with his peers, Eminem's grades suffered, and his academic career was marred by truancy. According to a 1999 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Eminem failed the ninth grade three times and was forced to pursue other options. "My mother was like, 'Get a fg job and help me with these bills, or your a is out,'" he recalled. It was hip-hop music that provided him with an escape. "I found something," Eminem told 60 Minutes of his early experimentation with rap. While many rappers do embrace this image, a significant number have pursued higher education, often balancing their studies with the demands of a burgeoning music career. These artists demonstrate that intellectual pursuits and artistic expression can coexist, enriching both their music and their lives.
College Educated Rappers
1. Young MC: Economics at USC
The British-born rapper and producer known as Young MC is forever defined by his biggest hit, “Bust a Move,” but don’t reduce Marvin Young to a one-hit wonder. Growing up in Hollis, Queens (also the home of Run-DMC), Young MC started rapping at 10 years old, because that was the culture in the air. But he was also the son of hard-working, striving Jamaican immigrants, and slacking off, running the streets, and getting in trouble was not an option. Instead, the bright, dedicated student excelled at Hunter College High School (a secondary school operated by Hunter College) and was accepted into Hunter. At USC - one of the most prestigious private research universities in the West - Young majored in economics while honing his rap skills, catching the ear of two classmates who had started Delicious Vinyl Records. They signed Young as their first artist, but their first major success came with Tone Loc, spitting rhymes written by Young MC. Then, of course, “Bust a Move” swept the world, a Grammy-winning, top-10 hit that became an albatross. Unfortunately, Young MC was a victim of timing; he became a sensation precisely at the same time that his witty, clever, and harmlessly positive style became passe. Not that Young MC is bitter; in the years since hip-hop left him behind, Young has continued to write, make records, and tour as a proud legacy artist.
2. Saweetie: Communications at USC
Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper - better known as Saweetie - has never been shy about the importance of education in her life. Born to a Filipina-Chinese mother and an African-American father, Saweetie grew up in Sacramento, CA, surrounded by the sounds of West Coast hip-hop. While she loved classic artists like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown, and started writing poetry as a teenager, Saweetie cites hearing Nicki Minaj in high school as the motivation to begin rapping herself. Starting at San Diego State University, Saweetie went out on a limb and gave herself a choice: jump into music full-time, or transfer to the University of Southern California. Her ambition - and a compelling letter to the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism - got her a place in one of the top communications programs in the world. And a business professor encouraged her to go for her hip-hop dreams, rather than settle into a boring corporate career. Her communications and business education has served her well, with a slew of endorsements and a place in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.
3. Childish Gambino: Dramatic Writing at NYU
Among rappers who went to college, Donald Glover is one of the most extraordinary multi-talented artists to come along in a generation. From a network television writing job straight out of college, to starring in Community, to stand-up comedy, to writing, directing, and starring in Atlanta, Glover has to be one of the busiest men in entertainment. Oh, and don’t forget Childish Gambino, his hip-hop alter-ego. As Childish (from an online Wu-Tang name generator), Glover has been one of the most prolific hip-hop artists in the business, and that’s on something that is essentially a side project. Five mixtapes, an EP, and three albums (Camp, Because the Internet, and “Awaken, My Love!”), all in less than a decade, have earned Glover a reputation for always having his finger on the pulse of the culture. And it all started at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where Glover studied Dramatic Writing, graduating in 2006. That was Year Zero for Glover’s career, when a spec script for The Simpsons got him a job in the writer’s room of 30 Rock. While Glover had DJ’d and made a mixtape in college, it was writing (and, later, making cameos) on 30 Rock that brought Glover into the public eye. When Glover returned to music in 2008, with his first mixtape, the Dirty South-influenced Gambino project was supposed to be a more personal, non-commercial way to express himself during professional frustrations (he would leave Community shortly after). However, against all odds (when Glover first announced his new persona, many wondered if it was a joke), Childish Gambino has proven to be an ideal creative outlet for a young genius with apparently unlimited potential and energy.
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4. Talib Kweli: Theater at NYU
Any ranking of the greatest hip-hop lyricists that doesn’t include Talib Kweli near the top is automatically wrong. One of the best rappers with college degrees, Kweli comes by his verbal dexterity honestly, growing up in a highly literate family that includes an English professor (his mother), a college administrator and sociologist (his father), and a law professor (his brother). As a kid, Kweli wrote poetry and stories, getting into rapping only because it was a way for him to be popular in school, but, as with Mos Def, music was largely an afterthought. At NYU, Kweli studied theater like Mos, a childhood friend, and began collaborating with producer DJ Hi-Tek on a project called Reflection Eternal in 1997. As an MC, Kweli is known for his dense, intricate rhymes, including complex polysyllabic rhymes and internal rhymes, as well as his wordplay. Not surprisingly, Kweli also scores as one of the rappers with the highest vocabulary, a product, most likely, of his deep reading in biographies, history, politics, and philosophy, all of which appear prominently in his socially aware lyrics. While Kweli may not talk a lot about his theater degree, his career as an activist has been devoted to literacy and social justice. Kweli and Mos Def are the owners of a cultural awareness center, the Nkiru Center for Education and Culture, which they established from an Afrocentric bookstore that was in danger of closing; Kweli’s mother, Dr.
5. Yasiin Bey (Mos Def): Theater at NYU
One of the most admired MCs of his generation, Dante Smith aka Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey is known for his socially-conscious lyrics, his restless reinvention, and his distinctive drawl. While Mos burst into hip-hop as a guest on records by Native Tongues groups Da Bush Babees and De La Soul, Dante Smith had already had a successful career in entertainment as a child actor. It was while studying theater at NYU that Mos Def stepped, almost accidentally, into hip-hop. During the early 90s, Mos had gained some attention reading his poetry in venues like the fabled Nuyorican Cafe, and formed a hip-hop group with his brother and sister in 1993. That earned him the attention of the Native Tongues collective, the hyper-lyrical, Afrocentric scene that included the Jungle Brother, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Queen Latifah.
6. Guru (Gang Starr): Business at Morehouse College
Half of the iconic Gang Starr - the East Coast duo known for pioneering the New York hardcore style (along with groups like Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions) - the late Keith Elam was the man known as Guru. Elam liked to blow his pseudonym out to Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal (as on the song “Form of Intellect”), and it wasn’t an exaggeration; Guru was, quite simply, one of the most intelligent and wise MCs on the scene, known for crystal-clear observations on politics, philosophy, human nature, and art. He could battle with the best of them, too, and boasted about his brilliance with confidence. It’s no surprise that Guru could hold his own at the most competitive and elite historically black college in the nation: Morehouse College. And what was Guru’s major? Of course the man who wrote Hard to Earn majored in business, and at Morehouse - ranked one of the most entrepreneurial colleges in the nation - business is no joke. While that foundation may have given Guru the business sense to keep Gang Starr in the black, it was his rhymes, combined with the influential beats of DJ Premier (who attended Prairie View A&M University), that made the duo legends in the underground. Guru’s work is steeped in the history and pre-history of hip-hop, as his Jazzmatazz albums demonstrate; experimental collisions of jazz artists, hip-hop beats, and rapping, the four Jazzmatazz records are like an alternate universe hip-hop.
7. J. Cole: Communications and Business at St. John's University
Jay Z’s first protege at his Roc Nation record label, J. Cole is a Renaissance man of the hip-hop craft, a student of the genre and a creator as adept behind the boards as he is behind the mic. Born in 1985, Cole began rapping at 12 and making his own beats at 15, with a sampler given to him by his mother. Cole was the kind of kid who seemed to excel at everything he did - an honors student, first chair violinist in his high school orchestra - and if he wasn’t immediately good at something, he worked at it; after being cut from the high school basketball team in his freshman and sophomore years, Cole practiced until he was a starter in his senior year. Cole’s work ethic and intellect paid off with a scholarship to St. John’s University in New York City; the honors high school graduate (with a 4.2 GPA) chose New York with a rap career in mind, but still graduated with highest honors in communications and business. The same year he graduated from college (2007), Cole released his first mixtape, earning underground buzz that caught Hov’s attention.
8. Chuck D: Graphic Design at Adelphi University
One of the most politically outspoken hip-hop MCs of all time, Chuck D has spent more than three decades courting controversy and demanding justice as the leader of Public Enemy. Born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, Chuck D’s rap career began right alongside the Big Bang of hip-hop - the legendary 1977 New York City blackout, when the 17 year old was inspired to write rhymes by the post-blackout burst of creativity in the city. Stardom took a while, though, and while he was perfecting his craft, Chuck earned a BFA in Graphic Design from Adelphi University, where he met fellow student William Drayton. Chuck D may have majored in graphic design, but he’s not known for his visual style - he’s known for one of the most recognizable voices in hip-hop. Modeled on the sports announcers he admired as a boy, Chuck’s lyrics blast out over the beats in a booming baritone, enunciating every word as clearly as a newscaster no matter how fast the flow. It was not by chance: Chuck famously called hip-hop “CNN for black people,” and nothing was more important than the message. Alongside fellow New York duo Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy pioneered a provocative, unabashedly political hip-hop that assumed its listeners were smart, conscious, and ready for an education.
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9. Ludacris: Music Management at Georgia State University
Okay, so academics isn’t the first thing you think of when you think of the artist behind Chicken-n-Beer and “Act a Fool,” but Ludacris is a man of many surprises. A Screen Actors Guild and Grammy Award-winning artist, Chris Bridges may have gotten famous on some less-than-intellectual party jams, but the man himself is a mogul and a business mastermind. Growing up in Chicago, Luda came of age in Atlanta, where he would help pioneer the Dirty South sound. So yes, Ludacris wrote “Move B--” and “Freaky Thangs,” but he also graduated with honors from Georgia State and built a business empire estimated at $25 million. One of the most influential Southern rappers of all time, Ludacris made his career on a combination of earworm hooks, inventive videos, and an image that was tough enough to maintain street cred, but comical enough to be relatable to a wide range of fans. With smart business sense, Luda also broke numerous younger Southern rappers, such as 2 Chainz, using his Disturbing tha Peace record label as a major front for the genre. Following his 1996 high school graduation, he enrolled at Georgia State University where he "studied music management" for just one year, the AJC also reported. Since leaving the classroom behind, he's still a very proud GSU alumnus.
10. Megan Thee Stallion: Prairie View A&M University
Megan Pete was born with hip-hop in her blood; her mother, Holly Thomas, was an underground Houston rapper associated with DJ Screw’s Screwed Up Click. Despite toting little Megan to recording sessions when she didn’t have childcare, Thomas had one requirement when Megan wanted to become a rapper - wait until you’re 21. So before she could become Megan Thee Stallion, Megan enrolled in the land-grant HBCU Prairie View A&M University. Despite the best efforts of A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip to get her signed to Columbia or Def Jam, Megan made her way independently, building her reputation on her preternaturally confident flow, fearlessly explicit lyrics, and some of the most quotable punchlines since Biggie. Her mother (who passed from a brain tumor in 2019) would be proud, but maybe even prouder of Megan’s extra-rap aspirations.
High School Success Stories
Gerald "G-Eazy" Gillum wasn't exactly sold on the idea of leaving his hometown of Oakland, Calif. behind to attend Loyola University in New Orleans, but it was the school's music program that really drew him in. "John, the guy in charge of the program, told me that they designed the program at Loyola for someone like me," he told WGNO. Many assume his rap moniker pays homage to The Big Easy, but that's not the case. "My nickname as a kid was G.E. because those are my initials. It just sort of turned into G-Eazy from there," he explained, but we like the idea that he named himself after one of his favorite cities better. His days of striking out with the ladies are long over. And, as lucky as he has been in the romance department, he has been even luckier in his ascension to fame. It all started after he obtained his high school diploma. He left Stone Mountain, Ga. With an insane amount of Grammy awards to his name, it's clear Kendrick Lamar's way with words has music lovers under a trance. And the gifted rapper didn't need to spend years at a post-secondary institution to perfect his flow either. He became the first in his family to graduate from high school when he earned his diploma from Centennial High School, Rap-up reported. He was invited to play principal for the day at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, R.I. New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School specializes in visual and performing arts, and some if its famous alumni include Jennifer Aniston, Liza Minnelli, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and - yes, you guessed it - Nicki Minaj. Enrolling in the legendary institution was a dream come true for the "Anaconda" rapper. "It was the first time I felt like I really fit in," she told Teen Vogue. "Everyone there was creative. After graduating in 2000, Minaj attempted to return to the campus she loved so much, but her plans were crushed. "I wanted to go back to my HS and speak to the students but the new principal declined. No need for me to inspire them, I guess. Speaking with The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Cardi B recalled being "very disruptive" during her school years, constantly cracking jokes and ending up in the principal's office on various occasions. The eccentric personality she displays in interviews was just as robust during her teen years, she admitted. However, school wasn't all just fun and games for the "I Like It" rapper. She made sure to add that she was "really good in history" and other subjects she "liked." Though she was always getting "kicked out of class," the "Bodak Yellow" MC said all of her teachers were upset when her school years came to an end. "I made teachers cry when I left," she said. Immediately following high school, she graduated … straight to the strip club!
Overcoming Obstacles and Returning to Education
With some help from a friend's father who just so happened to be a talent agent, Drake snagged the role of Jimmy Brooks on the Canadian television program DeGrassi: The Next Generation when he was just 15, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Sadly, heading out into the workforce as a teen meant school took a backseat. He became the breadwinner of his family, telling Complex magazine, "My mother was very sick. We were very poor, like broke. Looking back on being a high school drop-out, Drake appeared to be in his feelings, and he didn't seem content with his decision in an interview with Kentucky Sports Television (via Rolling Stone). "I never really got like a great school experience," he said. It's too bad he can't board a time machine and change the course of his life. But, in 2012, he decided to hit the books to finally make his education dreams come true. "97% on my final exam. 88% in the course. One of the greatest feelings in my entire life. As of tonight I have graduated high school!" he tweeted. Lil Wayne experienced fame at a young age when his raspy voice was featured on Cash Money Records hits, like Juvenile's "Back That A*z Up." But can you imagine being 14-years-old, having one of the hottest songs on the radio and still showing up to public school every day? In some places, it would be business as usual. He told Katie Couric (via HipHopDX) that when his mom saw him put a gun in his backpack one morning, she encouraged him to bring the firearm to school. Then, she made an announcement. "She walked back to my room, she said, 'You don't go to school no more. You gettin' a GED,' and I was like, 'Okay,'" the rapper recalled. Even though he probably already had "Amili" or more to his name by the time 2002 rolled around, Lil Wayne enrolled at the University of Houston with a major in political science, according to Free Press Houston.
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