Hip Hop has become a growing field of music study over the last decade+. The music is rooted in the culture of the black experience in America, dating back to the early days AKA the late 1970s. I never had the opportunity to take a class on the social and historical significance of Hip Hop. I would have in a second. It often mirrors what is happening with society in the moment but, to my thinking, hearkens back to and older form. The cadence that hip hop uses, which has evolved and matured overtime, holds rhythms reminiscent of black preachers and oratorians going back through the years.

If you were to consider a school where you wanted to study this musical movement, would the first school that came to mind be Cornell University? I’m on the side of probably not, but Cornell does in fact have the largest national archive of hip-hop culture. Archives provide invaluable primary sources for research and study. If a university is going to keep such a collection, then it only makes sense to have faculty who can teach what those documents truly mean. Enter Cornell’s resident lecturer and expert.

DJ Afrika Bambaataa, the grandfather of hip hop has been signed for a three year contract to work with student groups, perform and lecture in classes. Cornell may be the first University to include a hip hop icon on their faculty, but given their stature in the world of academia, I wouldn’t be surprised to see other institutes of higher education follow their lead.

- via GOOD