Works by classical composers such as Beethoven and Bach are essential to the study of music, but a broader program provides a deeper understanding of the full spectrum of this art form.
To that end, the Ohio State University School of Music, in partnership with the School of African American and African Studies, presents a unique hip-hop research program. The university has announced its first two faculty appointments. Educator and music producer Jason Rawls, aka “J. Rawls,” and Stevie “Doctor View” Johnson.
Hip-hop is no stranger subject to Ohio State University. Elaine Richardson, a professor in the Department of Education and Learning, is the founder of the annual Hip-Hop Literacy Conference, which will be held for the 11th time in March at the school’s Frank W. Hale Jr. Center for Black Culture. was held as
But taking steps to expand the actual curriculum would help provide a complete and comprehensive picture of music, said Michael Ibrahim, director of the Ohio State School of Music.
“For a long time, the school focused mainly on what is called the Western European classical tradition,” says Ibrahim. “[Hip-hop]is only one part of the whole story, especially modern life, American culture, popular music.”
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J. Rawls believes hip-hop can unleash the ‘power’ of youth
A Columbus native with over 30 years of teaching experience, Rawls has conducted workshops on the music industry, hip-hop education, and beatmaking at several of the nation’s leading universities.
Previously, he was an associate professor of education at Ohio University, where he founded a hip-hop-based educational program at Patton College of Education.
He has produced and collaborated with artists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Beastie Boys, Aloe Black and King Combs (son of Sean “Diddy” Combs). He has also released many solo albums and collaboration albums. Most recently, he and his fellow educator John Robinson launched a multimedia project, Youth Culture Power, which includes albums and books to help teachers incorporate hip-hop culture into their classrooms.
“Rolls has already made an incredible mark in leading hip-hop here in Columbus,” said Ibrahim. “Those connections are going to be invaluable. I’m really excited to connect with all aspects.”
Born and raised on the South Side, Rawls remembers rapping between kickball and pickup football games in the early ’80s when he was in middle school.
By 1988, Rawls and his friends were digging through his father’s records and creating “pause tapes,” an early DIY form of beat-making. In 1992 Rawls graduated from Bishop Hartley High School and then the University of Cincinnati with a degree in business administration.
Although he was proud of his accomplishment, he felt unsatisfied with his degree. In 1998 he started making beats with whatever was available.
“I didn’t have the tools,” he said. “I didn’t have money to buy drums. I didn’t take drum lessons. I didn’t take piano lessons. We just took what we had to make new music.”
He got his big break producing the song Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, a collaborative album by rappers Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Based on the success of that album, he received a distribution deal and began releasing his own music. He has traveled throughout Europe and South America throughout his career.
While making beats, I went back to school and completed my master’s degree in education at Ashland University. He received his PhD in Educational Administration from Ohio State University in 2017.
A teacher since 2002, he feels he has found purpose in making an impact in the lives of his students.
“It was a connection and a relationship that I was building with my students,” Rawls said. “The students I started teaching in 2002, and I still keep in touch with many of them.”
Rawls sees it as a civic duty to engage and educate new generations about the origins of hip-hop.
“We’re talking about how hip-hop was born. whysaid Rawls. “It was the have-nots, the group of people who carved a way out of nothing. Think of the b-boys. These breakdancers had no money… popular clubs.” I didn’t look or dress to go in. So they said, “I know, that’s fine.” Here you can see the old refrigerator cardboard. I’m going to take it out, take it apart, put it on the ground, and build my own to be used at the Olympics. ’ This is what we call the hip-hop mentality. ”
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Dr. Stevie Johnson talks about understanding the world through hip-hop
Rawls will form a new hip-hop research program with Stevie “Doctor View” Johnson, Assistant Professor of Creative Practice in Popular Music.
“I was intrigued when I saw the dual appointments of the Music Department and the African American and African Studies Department, because traditionally, these departments don’t talk to each other,” Johnson said. said Mr.
The nickname “Dr. View” was given long before he received his actual Ph.D. The record is a tribute to his hometown of Longview, Texas, and to veteran hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. Johnson said the name serves as a reminder to never forget where he came from.
When he was young, his mother gave him his first two records, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur’s Greatest Hits, which he called his “foundation texts.” became.
He said the music taught him that hip-hop can be used to express real-life experiences.
“[And]just knowing that these two artists are definitely misunderstood,” he continued. “I was a geek and enjoyed hip-hop, so[my mother]knew that I might be misunderstood as well.”
Johnson attended the University of Oklahoma where he earned multiple degrees, including a PhD in Higher Education Administration. He also became a DJ.
He said he found his niche in the academic field of applying hip-hop to education to fight for justice and fairness.
“My love of culture has evolved over time,” Johnson said. “I merged my passion for music and technology with culture and education and realized that I was just trying to make sense of my world through hip-hop.”
Johnson is the manager of both the Bob Dylan Center and the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also developed a multimedia project, Fire in Little Africa, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. The project included a documentary, a podcast curriculum, and an album released by Motown Records.
In 2019, Johnson won the Bobby Wright Paper Award in Higher Education Research for his paper, “The Curriculum of the Mind: Black Crit, Narrative Inquiry, and a Hip-Hop Album on Anti-Blackness and Freedom for Black Male College Students.” . It is historically a white institution. It was the first time a hip-hop or non-traditional paper had received this honor.
Johnson was also a 2023 Nasir “Nass” Jones Hip-Hop Fellow at Harvard University.
“(Johnson) is a nationally recognized hip-hop scholar doing really important and inspiring research,” said Ibrahim. “I think (he) has a lot of opportunities to grow here as well.”
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What courses have the program offered so far?
Mr. Johnson plans to develop and teach courses in Beats and Beatmaking, The Art and Practice of DJing, and Designing and Managing Music/Media Products.
Rawls plans to develop and teach courses “The Arts and Politics of Hip-Hop” and “From Bebop to Doo-Wop to Hip-Hop: Rhythm and Blues Traditions.”
Both are offered to students in the fall and spring semesters.
“The idea is to take hip-hop and make it a discipline as respected as jazz studies and things like that,” Rawls said. “Education is hip-hop. …hip-hop is culture.”
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