A College Degree is a qualification gained after spending a specific number of years learning a particular profession; they are awarded to students after successfully completing your course work. In the United States we have lots of rappers with college degrees but because of their way of life or their profession, most people might think they are very few. College degree is as important to them as other degree holders in other professions. I know so many people will be surprised that some rappers have good educational qualifications in higher institutes. Let’s see Which Rapper Has a College Degree
A lot of rappers in the United States of America have one or more college degrees but most of them might not actually be practicing what their profession or what they learnt in school, most rappers follow their music dreams because of the already in built talent they have. The following are rappers with college degrees:
- J.Cole
- Childish Gambino
- Talib Kweli
- Saweetie
- Megan thee Stallion
- Tracey Lee
- David Banner
- M.I.A
- Macklemore
J.Cole
Jermaine Lamar Cole who is known professionally as J. Cole is a top notch rapper from North Carolina. He obtained scholarship at St John’s University to study Computer Science but later switched to Communications and Business which, and he graduated in 2007 with a 3.8 CGPA.
Childish Gambino
Born and raised in California, Donald Glover who is also known professionally as Childish Gambino is a rapper and singer who got admission into the department of Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and graduated in 2007 with a degree dramatic writing. The Grammy Academy Awardee formed a comedy group named Derrick Comedy.
Talib Kweli
Javotti Media CEO, Talib Kweli Greene is a Brooklyn born rapper, singer, activist and entrepreneur who was also formerly a member of the Black Star. He is surrounded by academic professionals as his father is an administrator, his mum is an English professor His parents are educationalists, His father is an administrator, his younger brother is a professor of law and a former clerk to Justice John Stevens of the supreme court. Kweli is a college graduate, who studied experimental theatre at New York University.
Saweetie
Diamonte Quiava Valentin known as Saweetie professionally is an American rapper who is in her late twenties, she is signed to Max Gousse’s record. Saweetie who grew up in California, attended Monterey Trail High School, after high school, she got admitted to San Diego State University where she later transferred to the University of Southern California to complete her bachelor’s degree in Communications. She wasn’t really active in music while in school because she had to concentrate on her studies but later focused on her musical passion after graduating.
Megan Thee Stallion
Grammy Award Winner, Megan Thee Stallion whose real name is Megan Jovon Pete is a young American rapper who is from Houston, Texas. Holly Thomas who was her mother was a rapper from Houston. She tried to get signed to a major music label but it was impossible so she rather built herself independently by getting on cyphers and freestyles which was featured on top social media platforms (Instagram and YouTube).
The young female rapper who is signed to 300 Entertainment enrolled into Texas Southern University to study Health Administration, she graduated from college in 2021.
Tracey Lee
Known for his popular hit ‘The Theme (it’s party time)’, Tracey Lee who is a rapper and entertainment lawyer had his college degree in communication science from Howard University and went on to receive his doctorate in Juris from Southern University Law Center. As a lawyer, most his clients are from the music industry. The music producer also owns a record label, Left Entertainment.
David Banner
Born and raised in Mississippi, music producer and rapper, Lavell William Crump known professionally as David Banner is a graduate of Southern University with a first degree in Business, later furthered with a master’s programme. The ‘’Like A Pimp’ hit maker involved himself in extracurricular activities in the university which even gave him the opportunity to run for the President of the Student Government Association.
M.I.A
Mathangi Arulpragasam
Mathangi Arulpragasam also known as M.I.A is a professional Hip Hop artist. The London born rapper has been recorded as the first south Asian to receive an academy nomination and grammy award. M.I.A earned her college degree in fine art, video and film at London Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She started off as a filmmaker and a visual artist before proceeding to launching her career in music.
Macklemore
Ben Haggerty aknown professionally as Macklemore is a rapper who was born and raised in Washington. Macklemore started writing lyrics at 15 years and was introduced to Digital Underground which helped to boost his career. He earned a college degree in 2009 when he graduated from Evergreen State College.
Conclusion
Rapping has always been seen as a crazy act filled with gangsters and the rest, one will never believe that most rappers in the United States of America are academically sound. Enrolling to universities by scholarships or by normal entry and by the end of the programme they earn a college degree which makes them stand out in the society and among their colleagues in the industry. Some of them haven’t really used the degree after graduation. Some of these rappers get this qualification because of their educational background. A rapper like Talib Kwesi, his mother and his brother are both professors. So this piece of article explains which rapper has a college degree.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the meaning of College?
A college is a higher institution of learning that offers bachelor’s degrees in arts and science, they grant degrees in a particular undergraduate field.
What is the difference between college and university?
A college is focused on just a bachelor’s degree, the two year college offers an associate’s degree while the four year college offers a bachelor’s degree. They do more theoretical teaching than research work.
Universities are higher learning institutions that offer undergraduate and Postgraduate/Graduate degrees (PhD, professional schools like medicine, MBA, Law). Some courses are being taught for 5 years or more, like Engineering, law etc. Universities focus more on research than colleges.
