Q-Tip To Teach Hip-Hop Course At NYU

WEST VILLAGE, NY — The rapper and musician Q-Tip will teach a new course at New York University this fall, the school announced.

Q-Tip, one of the founding members of the legendary trio A Tribe Called Quest, will co-teach a course that will examine the relationship between hip-hop and jazz.

"I couldn’t be more excited to share with the students what I know and I look forward to them also teaching me," Q-Tip said in a statement. "Teaching is an exchange of sharing and receiving for all involved."

Q-Tip will co-teach the seven-class course with the music historian and journalist Ashley Kahn. The course, which begins in September, will be taught in the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

In addition to the standard coursework for the class, students will complete assignments under Q-Tip's mentorship to investigate the "compositional and studio choices at the nexus of hip hop and jazz," and will also create and produce their own original musical works, the school said.

"We’re thrilled to have Q-Tip join the faculty of The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music," Jason King, a professor at the Clive Davis Institute, said in a statement. “...we’re so excited to welcome Q-Tip, since he’s a peerless icon who redefined hip-hop for generations to come and brought jazz to the genre, especially through his contribution with A Tribe Called Quest. He also has a natural instinct for teaching and cultivating excellence in students in terms of their focus on craft and expressive style."

Image credit: Courtesy of NYU