Comments on: Artist-Teacher-Scholars in Pop Culture

By: The MIE NewsBlog » Another Look at “Ice-T’s Rap School”: Evaluating Student Work » Blog Archive

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 07:30:00 +0000

[...] I’m watching “Ice-T’s Rap School” on VH1 again. This time, the episode is putting its emphasis on the business/entrepreneurship aspects of being a hip-hop artist: show promoting, making business decisions, deciding what kind of music/rhymes are appropriate for a show, and also the social pressures that come with being an artist. Ice-T is confronting the students and trying to reinforce that he thinks that the quality of the music should reinforce how much effort the students put into their work. [...]

By: Randy

Randy — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 14:42:59 +0000

Yeah, in fact, we have had MIE courses at NEC that deal specifically with cross-genre entry-points into music education. For example, jazz pianist Michael Cain is highly regarded for his work with Jack DeJohnette (and, more recently, Me’shell Ndegeocello) but he can also be heard on hip-hop albums like those by Mya and Noreaga.

When not touring or performing, Cain’s teaching at NEC includes an MIE course called “Digital Playgrounds for Music-in-Education,” which itself is based on a pilot program Cain started at the Hoboken Charter School in Hoboken, NJ. In the “Digital Playgrounds” class and at the Hoboken School, students explore the intricacies of hip-hop/R&B beat making by learning what makes rhythms “dance,” finding combinations of instruments that work well together, and matching student-written poetry or lyrics to the beats they compose and record.

Yeah, truly exciting stuff!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:52:43 +0000

I think it is great to see things like this happening. The culture of Hip-Hop has always held high standards for language literacy. While the typical retirement from the microphone often sends veterans of this scene into the studio I think Ice-T is paving an important path into the classroom as an equally and possibly more enriching alternative.

I am currently working as a volunteer with The Home for Little Wanderers. We go once a month and do music with the kids there. Last time I went I spent the whole time with several teenagers teaching them about phrase structure, variation, hooks, etc. in the context of hip-hop.

I think that it would be an interesting exercise to move more into the rhyming/literacy element with them next time I go. I might have to check out an episode of “Ice-T’s Rap School” before going to get some ideas.

Great post Randy! I think one of the great things about the Artist-Teacher-Scholar model is that it really is something that we can see across genres/disciplines and more importantly across cultures.

If I come across any more content like this I will be sure to post it up!