Hip Hop

If you were to ask prominent hip-hop historians (yes, they exist) where the multi-billion dollar genre originated, they would point you in the direction of a dilapidated high-rise in the Bronx. 1520 Sedgwick Avenue to be exact. According to story, that’s where that an up and coming DJ named Kool Herc threw a block party with his sister. While manning the turntables, the Jamaican immigrant did something revolutionary. He waited for the beat to drop, and then he prolonged it. In addition to the prolonged instrumental break, Herc began MC’ing over the music in order to get the crowd more excited. People loved it.

As this new style spread throughout the Bronx and the surrounding Burroughs, people began to utilize it as a way to voice social disparity. As a result of the networks of highways that split through the Bronx (leading to the suburbanization of post-war families, closing of factories, and influx of drugs), the 1970’s found the Bronx literally burning. Hip-hop became a way to channel that despair, and bring energy and optimism to these otherwise negative circumstances.

Flash forward to 2013. Hip-hop holds a prominent foothold in our culture, and generates billions of dollars annually. While the Bronx will always be the birthplace of hip-hop, the genre is finding a new home in Tuscon, AZ. It’s there that the University of Arizona is offering the nation’s first hip-hop minor within their Africana Studies program. The 18-unit course offers classes including “Rap, Culture, and God” and “Hip-Hop Cinema.” The universities’ website describes the program by saying:

Hip Hop culture has become an all-pervasive key component of contemporary American society, culture, and identity which warrants serious academic inquiry.”

The UA isn’t the first university to take notice of the academic aspect of hip-hop. Afrika Bambaataa, another prominent Bronx DJ from Kool Herc’s era, is a three-year visiting scholar at Cornell University in upstate New York. With today’s creative industry growing exponentially, it’s clear that there’s a shifting academic focus amongst universities throughout the nation.

While it may be difficult for a student to convince their parents to shell out tuition so that they can study hip-hop, perhaps they can be convinced to support these other equally unique areas of focus. Here are five other degrees you may not have known existed:

Bowling Industry Management, Vincennes University

Professional Nanny, Sullivan College

Adventure Recreation, Green Mountain College

Golf Course Management, Ferris State University

Home Economics, Idaho State University

(Photo credit: Rap Genuis)