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‘Big Pimpin” For College Credit: University Course Focuses on…Jay-Z?

Big Pimpin For College Credit: University Course Focuses on...Jay Z?

"The Sociology of Jay-Z"? It's happening at one Georgetown University class, which analyzes the hip hop icon's lyrics as social commentary. (AP Photo)

He’s no Shakespeare, but in one college course, the lyrics of rapper Jay-Z  are being studied just as closely as if they were classic literature.

The unusual course at Georgetown University is called “Sociology of Hip Hop: Jay-Z,“ where the lyrics of songs like ”Jigga That N*gga” are subject to the same literary scrutiny as the works of Homer.

Professor Michael Eric Dyson teaches the class at the majority-white, Jesuit school in Washington, D.C. and said the hip-hop icon’s works are a social commentary on topics like racial and gender identity, sexuality, capitalism and economic inequality. (Recall last month when Jay-Z sought to capitalize on the Occupy Wall Street protests with a line of T-shirts inspired by the movement.)

“It just happens to have an interesting object of engagement in Jay-Z — and what better way to meet people where they are?” Dyson told the Associated Press in an interview. “It’s like Jesus talking to the woman at the well. You ask for a drink of water, then you get into some theological discussions.”

Dyson, a professor and radio host who has authored books on Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Tupac Shakur and others, said he’s taught similar courses on Tupac and Marvin Gaye at the University of Pennsylvania. According to the AP, Dyson said Jay-Z — whose real name is Shawn Carter — “is a worthy subject because of his diversity of business interests” – a clothing entrepreneur and a part owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets – “as well as his immense cross-cultural appeal and ‘lyrical prowess’ in articulating contemporary black culture and his place in it.”

“I think he’s an icon of American excellence,” said Dyson, who has a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University.

Big Pimpin For College Credit: University Course Focuses on...Jay Z?

AP

Like many college classes, the course has a midterm and final examination, as well as required readings, including from Jay-Z’s memoir, “Decoded.” According to the Associated Press, classes focus more on black culture and business than on the rapper’s biographical details, which include millions of dollars in record sales, Grammy Awards, tours with Kanye West and Eminem, his marriage to Beyonce and impending fatherhood:

One recent lecture centered on how popular black artists reflect their culture and race to the public at large, with Dyson name-dropping LL Cool J, Diahann Carroll and Bill Cosby. The professor and one student went back and forth on whether the rapper’s lyrical depictions of his extravagant lifestyle — “Used to rock a throwback, balling on the corner/Now I rock a Teller suit, looking like an owner” is one of many examples — amounted to bragging and rubbing his taste for fine living in the faces of his listeners.

The student took the position that Jay-Z appears overly boastful, but Dyson countered that the rapper, who grew up in a Brooklyn housing project but has since become a multimillionaire, has never lost his ability to relate to the struggles of everyday people and has continued giving voice to their concerns. Though Jay-Z raps about Saint-Tropez and expensive cigars, he also talks about being nurtured by Brooklyn. And in one song, 99 Problems, he attacks racial profiling with a stark depiction of a racially motivated traffic stop: “Son, do you know why I’m stopping you for?” the officer asks. Jay-Z replies: “‘Cause I’m young and I‘m black and my hat’s real low.”

Timothy Wickham-Crowley, the chair of Georgetown’s sociology department, is supportive of the course, saying it shows how Jay-Z’s music fits into American society. Steve Stoute, an author and marketing executive who has done business with the rapper and has spoken to the class, said it has practical value for students interested in business.

But not everyone agrees: Some have raised questions about the misogyny in the rapper’s lyrics, including in his song, “Big Pimpin’.” And in an opinion piece published in Georgetown’s student newspaper The Hoya, junior Stephen Wu dismissed the class as “poppycock”:

Who honestly thinks that the productions of Carter can compare in any way, shape or form with the Homeric corpus? The great bard inclines toward the divine; he brings to light much of the character of human nature and puts man in communion with higher things. Rap music frolics in the gutter, resplendent in vulgarity and the most crass of man’s wants.

[...]

It speaks volumes that we engage in the beat of Carter’s pseudo-music while we scrounge to find serious academic offerings on Beethoven and Liszt. We dissect the lyrics of “Big Pimpin’,” but we don’t read Spenser or Sophocles closely. Our pedagogical commitments are disordered, and I think that in our heart of hearts we know this.

Danielle Bailey, a senior international business and marketing major who is in the class, said she was a Jay-Z fan before enrolling but now has greater appreciation for his entrepreneurial side.

“I know a lot of people are upset, but I think the point of college is to think outside the box. I rarely have classes that allow me to look at things differently,” she told the AP. “It’s not always about Mozart and Homer.”

Dyson maintains the course is a conduit for studying the “major themes of American life” and said hip-hop artists at their best deserve to be classified alongside literary luminaries.

Jay-Z is apparently aware of the class his work has inspired, reportedly giving a “shout-out” to it during a recent concert. Dyson also said the rapper told him that “You’re doing the class there“ but ”I‘m doing kind of the master class while I’m in concert.”

Watch Dyson discuss the class during an interview on Today, via NBC:

Comments (84)

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  • frust@ted
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:10pm

    The students that take this class will be the next crop of OWS‘ers who can’t figure out why their degree isn’t getting them a $75K job. This is yet another example of how our education system is falling behind. As China looks to eliminate useless majors we add Jay-Z classes to our curriculum

    Report Post »  
    • Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:31pm

      Kids need to be taught the reality of an Art or Music degree so that maybe they will major in something useful. Still, we graduate more students from the college of arts than the college of business.

      Report Post » Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American  
    • frust@ted
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:57pm

      You are right Bibblequotin. I love music and love the arts but unfortunetly the demand for these skills is limited and you must be in an elite class in order to make a living from. Much easier to be an average accountant and make a living than an average tuba player. Chase your dreams but kids but at least learn some other skills than tuba playing.

      Report Post »  
    • mils
      Posted on December 3, 2011 at 10:08am

      a degree jzness will take them far
      ..into the ghetto.
      How can America survive this type of stupidity..

      Report Post »  
    • WeekendAtBernankes
      Posted on December 3, 2011 at 4:44pm

      Maaaaaake work. At some point the value of a college degree depreciates so utterly that the entire system collapse. Then we can start over.

      Report Post » WeekendAtBernankes  
  • King Troy
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:03pm

    so a class on bill gate is ok. but not jay-z because ……………………….. ? he is a man that had NOTHING and now his is net is around 300 million. and if you think that is from music sales you would be very dumb. he guy knows money and how to make it.

    Report Post » King Troy  
    • YoungBloodNews
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:12pm

      Gates is an NWO guy, so is your man J…

      J does many occult things publicly which deepen the mystery (or make it more obvious).

      But besides that J is a hustler first and foremost, and hustlers gonna hustle so I can respect that.
      (I loved how he basically told the OWS crowd to shove it regarding giving them some of his cash from the T-Shirt)

      Report Post » YoungBloodNews  
    • AintLIBSjuzGreat
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:17pm

      the great jay z extorsion and thuggery how enlightned remember if your jayz bizz partner watch your back

      Report Post »  
    • frust@ted
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:20pm

      Depends on what the class on Bill Gates is for, if it’s a puff class that is going to only look at his life story then no it is not a worthwhile course. This Jay-Z course is a puff class that provides no benefit for the students. No I haven‘t taken it but name one job that someone would be qualified to do after taking this course that they weren’t qualified to do before they took the course

      Report Post »  
    • King Troy
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:21pm

      AINTLIBSJUZGREAT

      so you worked with him yourself? or are you just talking out ur ass?

      Report Post » King Troy  
    • TiltingWindmills
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:30pm

      Ohhhh… I get it. Money makes the man. Not! So Ja-Z merits a class on the trash that is his lyrics. This man literally sold his soul to the Devil. That’s in his lyrics too.

      Report Post » TiltingWindmills  
    • TiltingWindmills
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:34pm

      Sad that even on the Blaze there are people that have fallen for Jay-Z’s Eye of Horus hocus pocus!

      Report Post » TiltingWindmills  
    • sWampy
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:37pm

      A study of a whiny white guy that made billions being in the right place at the right time, and taking the work of others isn’t much different from studying a whiny black guy that thinks the white man owes him a living, and convinced a bunch of useful idiots to spend mommy and daddy’s money on **** with his name on it. Neither will make you a living.

      Report Post »  
    • ssbstspd
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 10:18pm

      King troy or troll w.e

      so a class on bill gate is ok. but not jay-z because ……………………….. ? he is a man that had NOTHING and now his is net is around 300 million. and if you think that is from music sales you would be very dumb. he guy knows money and how to make it.

      So logically this class should not last more then a week, In the Ows crowds mind.
      Answer = Oh he is different, he is not one of them. He is black, how could he greedy ?

      Report Post » ssbstspd  
  • georgiavietvet
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:03pm

    honoring the black rappers for the destruction of black youth is stupid. rappers are responsible for the huge rise in the black thug culture. rap music glorifies thug life, denigrates the black women,encourages violence, makes young black men look like idiots, with their pants down around their mid thigh, and their stupid looking hats sideways or backwards and the brims flat. rap music has destroyed a whole generation of black young people. the worst thing it does is to glorify the crimminal street gangs and gang killing and gang wars. the black on black crime has skyrocketed and its directly attributable to rap music. rap music is an abomination and should be stopped and abolished.

    Report Post »  
  • wordsworth
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:00pm

    Sounds like a stupid class, but in Jay Z’s defense, some of his lyrics do have an incredible amount of literary depth, with triple meanings.

    Report Post »  
  • FlowerBell
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:58pm

    Classes like these are money makers for the schools.
    Nobody really expects people who take this sort of class to actually amount to anything.
    Useful idiots money keep the lights on for others to enjoy a more meaningful education.
    I thank them for that. God bless America.

    Report Post » FlowerBell  
    • Oznogs
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:21pm

      Some of us technical people take classes like these to get the credit, since we are after technical degrees not english lit degrees. The drafting classes were worth more then the english requirements.

      Report Post » Oznogs  
    • kentuckypatriot
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:34pm

      umm does that mean when you take these classes you get an automatic A?

      Report Post » kentuckypatriot  
    • sWampy
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 8:34pm

      I’ve worked with a lot of tech guys like you, would have been much, much better with someone with a GED and a week long cram course on programming, networking, administration.

      Report Post »  
  • OhSnappage
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:55pm

    Oh this is just sad!

    If this is permitted I can get a petition for Dungeons and Dragons as played by Fidel Castro for an educated accredited course.

    Report Post » OhSnappage  
  • ZeroOff4impact
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:54pm

    This guy is dumb as a stump.

    Report Post » ZeroOff4impact  
  • YoungBloodNews
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:46pm

    Disclaimer, there are some amazing black students out there, but many just don’t want to learn…

    What its like to teach blacks: (worth a read)

    http://martynemko.blogspot.com/2009/06/white-teacher-speaks-out-what-is-it.html

    Report Post » YoungBloodNews  
  • Rickfromillinois
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:42pm

    How much are these idiots paying to go to this school? My mistake, how much are there poor parents paying?

    Report Post » Rickfromillinois  
  • Jenny Lind
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:38pm

    I hope that they all find meaningfull work, with classes like these, they are bound to.

    Report Post »  
  • term limits for congress
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:37pm

    The point, Danielle Bailey (a senior international business and marketing major… wait… a SENIOR?), is that you can always think outside of the box, but you’re (or someone… probably me) paying for an education in order to be prepared for the real world. I sure hope it is an ‘Easy A’ class. A SENIOR???

    Call the Occupy folks. Time to Occupy Georgetown University and demand they give refunds on tuition.

    Disclaimer: I took Ballroom Dancing in college. It was an Easy A. I probably would have taken a Madonna class if it was offered… instead of ballroom dancing.

    Report Post »  
  • BO_Bill
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:35pm

    Blacks and whites/Asians want fundamentally different things out of ‘education’. Blacks value diplomas and being able to say they are educated. The afro-centric themes highlighted here are also popular. Another recent example is Detroit spending $2.1 million it does not have for an Afro-Centric K-8 School.

    In contrast, whites and Asians tend to value learning and the development of skills in the Useful Arts and Sciences.

    One fair solution to this problem would be for the government to allocate a fixed amount of funding per pupil, and allow school districts to spend the money in any fashion they deem fit. If the school district wants to provide posters of JAY-Z, hold African-themed dances with drum music, and spend money in a manner that creates dozens of call-in jobs, fine. If the school wants to invest in teachers who care and textbooks, fine.

    If a black student felt the call, he or she could elect to attend a white school. But the white school should be under zero legal obligation to lower its standards to accommodate blacks. Likewise, if a white student wanted posters of JAY-Z and to pursue a less-challenging academic curriculum, he or she could elect to attend a black school.

    It should be all about choice.

    Report Post » BO_Bill  
  • ginger100
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:34pm

    It’s no wonder we have dummies sleeping in the streets protesting.

    Report Post » ginger100  
  • Eliasim
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:34pm

    You people do know that Christianity could die from the face of the earth and the nation of Israel wouldn’t give one hoot, don’t you?

    Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:37pm

      Yes, Read John in the New Testament, and this is where Beck is extremely blind, because The Nation of Israel is in fact an Antichrist nation. There have always been people who are antichrist, because they don’t believe Emmanuel has already come in the human flesh.

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:41pm

      I hope Israel is good at defending themselves, because I don’t think God is choosing them anymore, because someone antichrist is denying their own Father, and has said in their heart “I don’t know my own Father.”

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:43pm

      So who is it that rallies people to support and maybe even give their life for an antichrist nation?

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:46pm

      If I have two children and neither of them believe in me, then do I really care which one wins in battle? Not really. Because ones just as bad as the next.

      Report Post »  
  • billrow
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:32pm

    Glorifying an afrocentric thug culture that has created nothing of value is just another example of how this country is going to hell in a handbasket.

    Report Post »  
  • Eliasim
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:32pm

    Hey, what‘s up with Obama’s approval increasing in Israel?

    Report Post »  
  • BannedByHuffpo
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:31pm

    Occupy demonstrations are full of idiots with a worthless BA degree in Jay-Z and similar such nonsense like “womens’ studies”. Do you actually think there’s an employer anywhere on earth, other than “academia” who gives a rat’s ass about your worthless credentials? You should be studying computer science or engineering if you want to get a job. What the hell can you possibly do to make a living as an expert in Jay-Z? Fools.

    Report Post » BannedByHuffpo  
  • Eliasim
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:31pm

    Oh good grief. Nothing like them building more walls.

    Report Post »  
  • Oznogs
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:30pm

    This reminds of a comunity college poetry class I took for english credit and we discussed the lyrics of The Beatles and The Doors and how they influenced society. I thought it was a worthy class.

    Report Post » Oznogs  
  • Thisnameistowarnyouthatyouwillhatemycomment
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:30pm

    You guys are fools. Courses like this in college use figures like Jay-Z to hype up the class and pull in more students. The actual courseload is almost guaranteed to be made up primarily of academic articles and journalism. Pop-culture being used as a lens to help understand academic theory has been a commonly used teaching technique for decades. Also, when Michael Eric Dyson refers to “American Excellence” you can bet that there is subtle criticism in the term. What the class is most likely about (I‘m familiar with Dyson’s work) in terms of Jay-Z is analyzing whether or not Jay-Z embodies free market/capitalist ideals. For instance, from a Randian point of view, Jay-Z IS a figure of excellence. He worked outside the bounds/constraints of society without concern for social morality in order to better his own position in life, eventually moving on to using art as a tool for the same thing, then using that same art to analyze his own development, and eventually founding/owning/running a record label and merchandise line worth millions and millions.

    I guarantee you that half the people in that class will be writing essays criticizing Jay-Z instead of praising him. College classes posit ideas and ask students to critically analyze them; just because a subject is being taught doesn’t mean students are being told to love it.

    Report Post »  
    • sissykatz
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 7:24pm

      Thisname
      I am not a fool and I feel sure most on here are not either. I am so
      glad we have someone on here like you with your extensive knowledge
      to keep us straight on things like this, other wise we may not understand.
      This article would have surely been beyond my understanding, I would
      never have suspected they were using “Hype” but then again maybe
      they are not…..

      Report Post »  
    • Thisnameistowarnyouthatyouwillhatemycomment
      Posted on December 2, 2011 at 10:27pm

      I wasn’t clear when I was saying “you guys” in who was being foolish. It was in response to the several comments that had been posted claiming this is somehow a sign that college is worthless (which at the time were the only comments posted). I try not to generalize like that.

      Report Post »  
  • T-2
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:28pm

    word dawg…fo realz?

    Report Post »  
  • Obama>Jesus
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:23pm

    I’d take that class. It would be an interesting change of pace.

    Report Post » Obama>Jesus  
  • NHwinter
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:21pm

    I would no longer send my children to college. What a waste of money. It might as well be kindergarten. Show Disney movies and hand out popcorn. This is a crime. Parents wake up.

    Report Post » NHwinter  
  • Donald
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:16pm

    Rapper–
    An Icon of Amercian Excellence ????
    Who believes this stuff

    Report Post » Donald  
  • grayling646
    Posted on December 2, 2011 at 6:13pm

    And to think some people say our education system is a failure.

    Report Post »  
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