Hip Hop Genius: Remixing High School Education

Many educators already know that hip-hop can be a powerful tool for engaging students. But can hip-hop save our schools? In Hip Hop Genius, Sam Seidel introduces an iteration of hip-hop education that goes far beyond the usual approach of studying rap music as classroom content and looks instead at deeply honoring the knowledge of urban students. Seidel lays out a vision for how hip-hop's genius—the resourceful creativity and swagger that took it from a local phenomenon to a global force—can lead to a fundamental remix of the way we think of teaching, school design, and leadership.

Through stories about the professional rapper who founded the first hip-hop high school and the aspiring artists currently enrolled there, Hip Hop Genius invites readers to think outside the (boom)box about what hip-hop education can mean and to consider the implications that a broader definition of hip-hop education could have on their teaching and learning experiences.

This book is for all of the educators in need of new solutions and all the hip-hop heads who know hip-hop is far more than music. It is for everyone who refuses to watch brilliant young people slip through the cracks and is down to take action.

View Sam's YouTube trailer for the book here