The College Fix

Harvard University witnessed a first this past week: A student submitted a rap album as his senior thesis.

Obasi Shaw’s album Liminal Minds earned him a grade of “A-minus” which means he’ll graduate with honors this week.

“I never thought it would be accepted by Harvard,” Shaw said according to the Associated Press. “I didn’t think they would respect rap as an art form enough for me to do it.”

Shaw describes Minds as “a dark and moody take on what it means to be black in America,” relating stories about slavery and police violence. It also utilizes ideas from author James Baldwin and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

Hmm, what’s more interesting — the lack of topic originality, or Shaw culturally appropriating white authors?

From the story:

Shaw’s thesis adviser, Harvard English lecturer Josh Bell, said Shaw is a “serious artist and he’s an amazing guy.”

“He was able to turn around an album that people in the English Department would like very much but also that people who like rap music might like,” Bell said. …

Shaw was at home for winter break in 2015, struggling to find a topic for a written thesis, when he told his mother, Michelle Shaw, about the creative thesis option. He had recently started writing his own raps and performing them at open-microphone nights on campus. His mother connected the dots and suggested he record an album for his thesis.

It took Shaw more than a year to write the songs and record them at a studio on Harvard’s campus. His friends supplied many of the beats, while he taught himself how to mix the tracks into a polished product.

The AP notes Harvard created a hip-hop fellowship four years ago, and other universities have established minors in “hip-hop studies.”

Read more.

MORE: ‘Cultural appropriation’ complaints reach ludicrous (Ludacris?) heights

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