Harvard student graduates with honours after submitting rap album as thesis
Obasi Shaw, a Harvard undergraduate student became the first in the university’s history to submit his thesis in the form of a rap album – and ended up getting an A-, the second highest grade. PHOTO: Harvard University/Facebook
A Harvard undergraduate student will be graduating with honours after submitting a 10-track rap album for his final thesis — the first to do so in the history of the university.
While other students were busy writing thesis, Obasi Shaw took a bold step and submitted his thesis in the form of a rap album. Shaw became the first in the university’s history to submit his thesis in the form of a rap album and ended up getting an A-, the second highest grade.
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The 21-year-old’s rap album titled ‘Liminal Minds’ combines “elements of Middle English poetry with issues of racial identity in America.” The English department at Harvard often receives creative thesis such as novels, collection of poems and screenplays. However, a rap album had been submitted for the first time.
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There are 10 tracks on his album, each of which explore different facets of what it means to be black in America. The tracks touch on topics like racism within the criminal justice system.
Each song in the album is told from a different character’s perspective — an idea inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
“Liminal is a word that means in between two states. I heard a quote that black people in America are caught between freedom and slavery. Although we’re no longer enslaved, there’s still the effects of slavery in society and on our consciousness,” Shaw told the Harvard Gazette.
The idea was sparked by Shaw’s mother who noticed that her son wrote raps and performed them at open mics. “Rap is a genre in which I can say everything I want to say,” said Shaw. “I’ve been writing in different capacities, but I never felt that I found my art form until I started rapping.”
Seniors at Harvard aren’t expected to submit thesis. However, if they want to graduate with honours, they have to do one.
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Shaw’s thesis adviser, English lecturer Josh Bell, called Shaw an ‘artist’. “He was able to turn around an album that people in the English Department would like very much but also that people who like rap music might like,” Bell told the Associated Press.
Shaw never though his rap album would be accepted. “I never thought it would be accepted by Harvard. I didn’t think they would respect rap as an art form enough for me to do it.” he told Associated Press.
Harvard established a fellowship for scholars of hip-hop in 2013. Other colleges have also started to offer minors in hip-hop studies. Last year Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly and Nas’ Illmatic were both added to the Harvard Library to signify their cultural significance.
While Shaw will keep rapping as a treasure hobby, after graduating, he will be moving to Seattle to work as a software engineer intern at Google, according to the Harvard Gazette.
His entire album can be listened to on Soundcloud.