Kwame holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is author of Hip Hop Underground: The Integrity and Ethics of Racial Identification (Temple University Press 2009) and a founding member of the Bay Area underground hip hop group Forest Fires Collective. Kwame is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Popular Music Studies and in his spare time enjoys uphill jogging and downhill skiing.