Hip Hop Could Be Your Teacher
By: Cody Segura
Tags: Education, Hip Hop

People today don’t realize that hip hop could have been a teacher for you in school. Listening to a new song in class or back at home, you start to pick up on the words and language being used in the hip-hop song. This is actually helping you get an understanding of literature and language used by people and definitions to words and phrases. When you’re in class listening to music, and it so happens to be a hip-hop artist or song, did you ever think that it could have had an influence in your classroom to this very day? Hip hop has had a huge impact on the education system and the learning in it. Hip hop should not be looked at as bad by the education system but instead as a learning experience for students in a classroom. It has been inside the education system since the 1970’s, providing funds to under-funded schools, creating influence on the younger students, and providing language and literacy in classrooms. The topic is important to understand, because in today’s society, some adults and even teachers look at hip hop as vulgar and in no way a means to get an education. This can lead to less exposure to the beautiful art we know as hip hop, causing kids to be less literate and understanding of the language in this day and age. Overall hip hop will lead to being a great teacher to students or even adults, and here’s why.

Photo by Ben Wiens on Unsplash

Hip hop has had a number of influences inside the education system, one of those being providing financial support to under-funded schools. Most hip hop artists have come from a less fortunate background and this gives them an understanding of what it is like to struggle. They end up using their fortune to give back to the community. For example, Chance the Rapper is a well known hip-hop artist who grew up in the rougher parts of Chicago. As stated by Alim, “But rather than limit his activism to groaning, the 23-year-old public school product instead announced Monday he was giving $1 million to Chicago schools and his charity” (2). The artist made sure to give back to the community he came from, funding education system improvements so the children would not struggle like he did. A hip hop artist by the name of Diddy also made an impact on New York City (NYC) schools and its education system for students. He created a school by the name of Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School. “The mission of Capital Preparatory Schools is to provide historically disadvantaged students with the college and career readiness skills needed to become responsible and engaged citizens for social justice” (Amil 1). Diddy helped make a change in the NYC education system by bringing forth a school that would help these students who do not have opportunities like others. There are more ways to give back into the education system and famous hip-hop artist Drake did more than what others could do. Drake ended up taking the budget for one of his music videos and using the money to give cash to students and homeless people, giving full-ride scholarships to University of Miami Students, and even paying for people’s groceries in full. As stated by Dagbovie, “The rapper surprised residents of Miami with a video shoot at Miami High School that came with $25,000, spending $50,000 on customers at a local grocery store and so much more”(4). Drake ended up providing good fortune for students in both high school and college, making sure that the community that supported him was supported in return. This is the impact artists make in giving to the education system.

Whether people like hip hop or not, it influences a lot of the younger youth, creating new slang through the lyrics and word play, inciting teens and kids to invent dances to the music, or even causing them to learn lessons they have not learned yet in life. This younger youth group is students and people in the education system. For example, “Engaging youth as teachers can allow communities of learners to flourish. As a culture, hip hop can allow learners to become more engaged in more ways that mean more to them; as a topic, hip hop can be hyper-relevant and empowering to study” (Kelly 3). Hip hop can be an influence within the classroom in order to help teachers and students flourish in their learning environment. Youth can get a calling from hip hop as well, songs that make you want to make a difference in the world — to get up and go out to find who you are and the purpose you want to bring to this planet. As explained by Kelly, “Creating and sharing hip hop culture focused on changing the world is a powerful way young people can make a difference. Organizing other youth through hip hop, using hip hop to share powerful messages and building the hip hop movement are all important actions for youth as artists” (1). Hip hop can help youth find a calling, a calling to make a change in this world and to be the person who leads. Hip-hop influence on the youth and students also plays a part in empowering their education. For instance, “ Hip hop youth activism is an empowering approach to advocacy, education and empowerment. Young people can use the elements of hip hop to advocate for the issues that matter most to them and their communities while bridging generations and cultures” (Goldsmith 2). This evidence helps give an understanding of hip hop’s influence on students. It gives them empowerment towards education and dreams they are passionate about. This is the influence hip hop has in education systems, but not just the education system itself, the students within them.

Last but certainly not least, hip hop has helped establish a learning environment for language and literacy. Hip-hop lyrics can influence language and literacy so that students can learn by listening to songs. Ever listened to a song and heard a word in there that you haven’t before, and you wonder what the definition could be. Well hip-hop songs help contribute to expanding students’ literacy by helping them understand new words about culture and society or even about a certain topic. As explained by Roth-Burnette, “Current scholarship suggests that many youth identify with hip-hop, especially youths of color. Study of this artistic form has been suggested as a means of helping youths acquire and become fluent in literacy practices” (7). This goes to show that using hip hop as a literary form can really help the students engage in it and become better learners in literacy practice. The literacy end of hip hop can be a teaching tool as people discuss and write about racial issues and characterizations. “However, due to the somewhat taboo and certainly difficult nature of discussions about race in American culture, I have found it vital to begin the class or the discussion of hip hop within a composition course” (Roth-Burnette 8).

Overall hip hop influence plays a major role in the education system influencing students, providing financial support, and creating language and literacy for students to learn. These factors have all made changes to the education system and now when you think about hip hop, you won’t see it as just a music genre. You will consider hip hop a teacher, a teacher for the whole education system and students around the world. Hip hop makes changes, and it can help change the way you learn.

My opinion on the situation definitely changed as I was gathering all my information and writing out the paper. Personally I wouldn’t have seen hip hop as an influence in the education system at all, cause when I think about it, I always saw it as just music. When I attended high school I didn’t even realize the effect hip hop had on me, and even now in college though I don’t listen to hip hop as much. This conversation should matter to others to help gain a better understanding of the education system, and about hip hop and the way it influences the world. Continue doing the research and learn more for yourself, as hip hop is not just a music genre but a teacher as well.