It’s Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, which means we are continuously honoring all the greats. Insert Flavor Flav, who we can all agree boasts legendary status in the rap game. Seen as a musical prodigy, the New York native exploded onto the scene in the 80s, most notably as the co-founder of Public Enemy. In 2013, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Today, Flavor Flav blessed the students at Harvard University, giving them games and teaching them about the roots of Hip-Hop culture. TMZ obtained a video of Flavor Flav sitting down in front of a class at the Ivy League school, stating, “I’ma tell ya something man, I sound like I graduated from Harvard and I didn’t even go to school here. Wowwww.”
At this point, a student in the crowd yelled out his ad-libs: “Yeahhhh boye!!”
Flavor Flav expressed how much fun he had on campus, even doing a table read of Emily Dickinson’s 1896 poem titled “A Clock Stopped,” and how it influenced his own lyrics throughout his long-standing career.
Soon after, Flavor Flav blessed the school by donating one of his own personal clocks to the Hip Hop Archive Research Institute. And if you know one thing about Flavor Flav, it’s the fact that he always has a clock around his neck. The video sees two professors, Henry Louis Gates, and Tommie Shelby, receiving the rare prize.
However, the festivities don’t stop there. Flavor Flav is reportedly supposed to return to Harvard tomorrow to lead more activities, including a writer’s workshop, a sit-down interview with PBS, and even volunteering to feed the homeless inside Harvard Square Homeless Shelter alongside a few lucky student groups.
Some notable names that were present include Lupe Fiasco (who previously taught at Harvard), rapper Dee-1, DJ Stretch Armstrong, and Khaliah Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali and a dear friend of Flav’s).
Harvard University…. established in 1636… holds the distinction of being the oldest college in the United States and considered one of the top institutions of higher learning in the world. However, that history just doesn’t seem to help the Ivy League when they are matched with the intellect of those Bisons from the real H. U.
You got it right! Puffy’s alma mater, Howard University claimed victory over Harvard University at the 10th Annual State NAACP Conference “Great Debate” on October 28th. This would be the second time that the Washington D.C. school, commonly referred to as “The Mecca,” snagged the honor against Harvard.
What were the two subjects? According to Howard News, the following topics were debated: The Impeachment of President Donald J. Trump and Whether of Not Roc Nation, the business affiliated with Jay-Z, should not have entered into a contract with the NFL. Last year, the topics were about Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee during the playing of the National Anthem during NFL games and the total ban of automatic weapons for civilian use.
Allegedly, the NAACP sponsored debate is the largest collegiate intellectual competition in the nation.
Ciara will be one, two stepping her way through Harvard halls real soon.
The singer announced on Instagram that she was accepted into the prestigious school’s business of entertainment, media, and sports program. She will be attending classes in Cambridge, Mass. The course typically lasts three days.
Cici posted a picture of her rocking a big smile and school apparel. “I always dreamt of going to college, but by God’s grace, my music career took me on a path that I’m so thankful for,” she wrote. “This week I got accepted into Harvard! Words cannot describe my excitement!”
Her caption went on, “Thank you @anitaelberse for a once in in a lifetime opportunity to attend @Harvard BEMS. #WhyNotHER”
Ciara tagged Harvard professor Anita Elberse, who “develops and teaches an MBA course covering the ‘Businesses of Entertainment, Media, and Sports,’ which ranks among the most sought-after courses in the School’s curriculum,” according to her profile on the school’s official site.
Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, you have to be pretty smart to be invited into its prestigious ranks or come from what some people call “old money.” Old money could be translated as “white money.” But students of color on the campus have taken leaps to diversify the playing field and create spaces for multi-culturalism, Black and brown ethnic identity and the spirit of Hip-Hop to flourish. Enter the Diverse UBSG (Up Before Sunrise Group). This group provides fellowship, support and resources to other students that are up before the sun and ready to grind. These talented students create a network with working professionals that further provides a bridge from the academy to the real work place.
They also know how to get lit.
This weekend Harvard’s Diverse UBSG is hosting what has been pegged as the “biggest party you’ve ever been to” on Sunday, May 5th from noon to 5pm. It is an all black party, so get dipped. This ticketed and tented event will be held at the Gore Estate. Their special guest performances will be by the legendary Doug E. Fresh and BIA.
While what Diverse UBSG is doing positive work, they build on the foundation uniquely tied to The Source over 30 years ago.
30 Years ago on Harvard’s campus, The Source was founded by students on the yard that loved the music of the culture. These four gentlemen combined their personal musical taste & politics, understanding of the rhymes and rhythm, with a strong since entrepreneurship to build the most powerful brand in the history of Hip-Hop media.
Join us as we celebrate the next phase of UBSG’s movement. Tickets available here.
Stay tune… you will see The Source return to Harvard later this year, for a big 30 year celebration.
Less than one week ago, Swizz Beatz released his first album in more than a decade. The arrival of POISON has the hit-maker for DMX, JAY-Z, Beyoncé, T.I., and Styles P promoting the Epic Records LP. However, few interviews in Swizzy’s 20-plus-year career are as engaging as his second sit-down with Drink Champs. Speaking with hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, Swizz (who is later joined by The Breakfast Club co-host and podcaster Angela Yee) discuss what the Bronx, New Yorker learned while he attended Harvard University. The man born Kasseem Dean emphatically reflects on some of the jewels he learned at the Ivy League college, including a powerful illustrative story from one professor.
“You know what we need in Hip-Hop? We need to know that we can do it all [and] we need to know that we [already] have it all. When I was in school, they taught me,” begins Swizz just after the 2:00:00 mark. N.O.R.E. asks, “Harvard?” Swizz responds, “That one; the H. I was in class one day. My professor at Harvard said, ‘You want them to feel like they win, make them feel like they own something.'” Swizz admits that he may get banned from his alma mater for sharing this knowledge but that he does not care. “What does that mean? They’re literally teaching people how to take advantage of us.”
He makes an extended analogy to share the wisdom. “You have $2 in your budget. You know who your superstar is, and your superstar knows who he is. He comes to the meeting [and you make him feel that his position is gone]. You take the spot away from him; it’s done. The superstar no longer thinks that he’s a superstar because you told him that the position was done. But you know that you’ve got $2 in your budget,” proposes Swizz to illustrate the lesson. “So you took the power away from the superstar [who says], ‘Whatever you need me to do I’m willing to do. Call me tomorrow.’ They call the guy tomorrow–I’m telling you what they taught me—you call the guy tomorrow, ‘Yo, they gave me a good report on you. They said you really, really should’ve got this job instead of this other guy. I don’t have $2 to pay you like you [wanted]; I have $1.’ You give this guy $1. ‘You gotta work more than the guy that’s getting $2, but I’ma give you $1 because I’m not even supposed to have you here, because we got who we wanted’ [which] f*cks with your mental. You give this guy $1; he’s working so hard. Hard. He’s grinding his life off because he doesn’t feel that he’s in that position that he was supposed to be in so he’s going hard. He’s not even sleeping. You walk up to him in the grass while he’s cutting it and say, ‘Man, you did all this? You cut all this grass?’ [He says], ‘Yes. That’s me. That’s my work. I’m me.’ [You say], ‘Wow. I knew that you was one of my special guys. You know what? Don’t tell nobody, let me give you another dollar.’ But you had $2 to start with. You made him a slave now because he only thought $1 was involved. He wasn’t qualified. But you knew that he was your target this entire time. You played him. You gave him a dollar to start with and another dollar to enhance his influence. So now you’ve got this guy working for you on a nonstop condition because he thinks you really care about him. But you never cared about him. You been had $2 for him [and played him].” DJ EFN says, “He thinks he’s indebted to you.” “Facts,” responds Swizz. “F*ck that sh*t! Know your worth. Know what you hold. Know you’ll withstand. Don’t play those games.” Swizz says he has applied that logic to offers of label deals and other industry maneuvers throughout his career.
Earlier in the extensive chat, Swizz also speaks to the principles of negotiation. “We’re too emotional that we don’t handle business,” begins the producer/DJ/investor at 1:16:00. “We get in front of a person that’s higher ranking; what do we tell them? They wanna do a big deal with us,” asks Swizz, before warning, “We do sh*t like this as a culture and we gotta to stop it.” He explains “We get in front of this big guy, this big f*ckin’ tycoon and we know he’s the biggest guy – billion dollars, whatever the f*ck the money is. [You are sitting] next to the [boss]; hee’s worth a billion dollars or she’s worth a billion dollars [pointing at guest Angela Yee]. You’re on her boat, she paid for you to fly out here on a plane, and they want to do a deal with you. You know that what you have is a good product. You know why people want to meet with you? You know why people have meetings at dinner? The reason why [is that] they want to know how much they can take advantage of you,” declares Swizz.
“When they sit down and have an out-of-office meeting with you,” “–they want to read your body language,” interrupts EFN. “F*ck your body-language; they want to read your mind language,” Swizz states. “They might have $100 million dollars on that table, but you might leave out justifying $10 million based off of your conversation that night [because they sized you up].” Swizz explains that the powers that be may brag about their education, whereas you could make up the fact that you acquired your wisdom from the streets. Stressing that “knowledge is power,” he continues, “At that meeting, they’re assessing how they should handle you going forward, and we gotta know that. When we sitting down, I need to be able to tell you more about your company then you f*ckin’ know.”
Swizz says that having that insight gives you, as the possible partner, greater negotiating power. “You gotta flex on these mothaf*ckas, man! Let’s stop being sitting ducks that’s waiting to get shot. We just so happy to be in position that we f*ckin’ ignorant about the position! If they talk to you, they need you. Y’understand? No, when a person comes to you they already know how they can take advantage of you. We gotta stop being the sitting duck that’s waiting to get taken advantage of and we gotta know our worth. If Angela Yee is $10 million, then f*ck it, it’s $10 million!”
Swizz elaborates on why he chose to study in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “The reason I went to Harvard is because I was doing mergers and acquisitions [of companies].” As N.O.R.E. says he should go to Harvard to smart, Swizz corrects him. “Let me not mislead the people. You don’t need an Ivy League school to be educated. I went to Harvard as a challenge to myself. It was a wall that I wanted to knock down. But everything that I learned in school you could learn online.”
At 1:27:00, Swizz says, “This is the realest sh*t I’ma say tonight: you can’t pay for time. You can’t exchange cash for time. Most people get this money and think that means something. The time that you put in with your kids is more valuable than the f*ckin’ currency. The currency of time, and talking, and education, and father-time, and mom time with your kid is the most valuable thing that you could ever do in life. There’s no payoff of that. I don’t give a f*ck if you get them a Bugatti, they’ll crash that sh*t and you’ll still be the deadbeat dad. You understand? F*ck that! Put your time in with your kids. Educate them, and give them freedom too, ’cause they can’t be saved from this world. What’s gonna happen is gonna happen. Let them have their freedom but give them the goals to understand the meaning of why they’re here. Give them the blueprint to start to discover why they’re here. Because life is a discovery.”
