‘Da Art Of Storytellin’:’ University To Offer OutKast Course
Southern rappers Andre 3000 and Big Boi are the latest artists to have a college course inspired by their contributions to the music industry. According to Savannah Now, Armstrong State University will offer a class about OutKast.
The course, OutKast and the Rise of the Hip-Hop South, will be instructed by Dr. Regina Bradley, a fellow at Harvard University’s Hiphop Archive & Research Institute.
She tells the news outlet that the class will explore how the group’s ideas about “the South and southernness” influenced other artists. Students will analyze lyrics and explore how hip-hop is intertwined with social and political activism.
“My areas of interest are African-American literature and popular culture,” said Bradley told Savannah Now. “I try to find ways to connect those. Often, students get most of their information, their outlook from how they engage in popular culture.”
At the end of the course, the students will have to write a paper about the concepts discovered in a hip-hop album of their choice. Bradley, who is currently penning a book about OutKast, hopes that the course will attract a diverse group of enrollees.
“I also don’t want to overlook or shun the folks who aren’t familiar with hip-hop at all. I’m pretty sure I have a couple of folks in there who have no clue who Outkast is or don’t listen to hip-hop at all, which is why they’re there — they want to learn something different,” she said.
Big Boi took to Facebook to express his excitement about the course. “I am originally from Savannah, and I remember Armstrong, so that is just super dope,” he posted.
Southern rappers Andre 3000 and Big Boi are the latest artists to have a college course inspired by their contributions to the music industry. According to Savannah Now, Armstrong State University will offer a class about OutKast.
The course, OutKast and the Rise of the Hip-Hop South, will be instructed by Dr. Regina Bradley, a fellow at Harvard University’s Hiphop Archive & Research Institute.
She tells the news outlet that the class will explore how the group’s ideas about “the South and southernness” influenced other artists. Students will analyze lyrics and explore how hip-hop is intertwined with social and political activism.
“My areas of interest are African-American literature and popular culture,” said Bradley told Savannah Now. “I try to find ways to connect those. Often, students get most of their information, their outlook from how they engage in popular culture.”
At the end of the course, the students will have to write a paper about the concepts discovered in a hip-hop album of their choice. Bradley, who is currently penning a book about OutKast, hopes that the course will attract a diverse group of enrollees.
“I also don’t want to overlook or shun the folks who aren’t familiar with hip-hop at all. I’m pretty sure I have a couple of folks in there who have no clue who Outkast is or don’t listen to hip-hop at all, which is why they’re there — they want to learn something different,” she said.
Big Boi took to Facebook to express his excitement about the course. “I am originally from Savannah, and I remember Armstrong, so that is just super dope,” he posted.
