Harvard University has always had an open door to Hip Hop. Dating back to the eighties, the world’s most revered academic institution has welcomed venerable hip hop artists from all subgenres of rap music including
KRS-One,
Paris,
Genius/GZA,
Lil' B,
Kanye West,
DJ Whoo Kid, and
9th Wonder as a fellow professor to name a few. Nas was even awarded their prestigious
W.E.B. DuBois Medal late last year, and has a fellowship with his namesake there. And let’s not forget that the most celebrated printed
Hip Hop publication in the culture’s history,
The Source, was burgeoned in a dorm room there back in
1988.
This past Thursday,
Pusha T spen an hour of his time inside the
Harvard-Yenching Library to discuss the creative process of his latest album
King Push - Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, his lengthy recording career, race and politics in the rap game and for young blacks in America, and other important facts about the changes in the rap game since he started “
grindin” with his on their seminal debut
Lord Willin’ in
2002. Here are eight of the most important takeaways from this Harvard discussion with the Virginian.
"Timbaland has a studio in Virginia, and like the greatest man of all because he lets me record there for free. I’ve never experienced that in my life (Laughs). Tim and my brother are both five years older than me. When I was like seven or eight years old, my brother and Timbaland were in middle school and they had a rap group. But by principle you can definitely call it a gang because Timbaland was the deejay for like twenty guys in this group.*hiphopdx.com
