Reality AV: Kendrick Lamar Will Have A Class Offered Soon
Reality AV: They Not Like Kendrick Lamar Who Will Have A Class Offered This Fall
Temple University in the city of brotherly love will offer a class on Kendrick Lamar this fall, taught by professor Timothy Welbeck. The course, titled Kendrick Lamar and the Morale of M.A.A.D City, will explore Lamar’s music and its impact on his life and career. Welbeck has been using Lamar’s music in his classes for over a decade and hopes students will gain a deeper appreciation for the artist and his place in Black culture. The class will examine Lamar’s music in the context of the changing demographics of Compton, California.
The professor told NBC10 in Philadelphia that he’s been using Lamar’s music in his classes for at least the last decade and that the department was receptive to the idea of a class on the Los Angeles-based rap star. He won’t be the first musician the university has offered a class on, as Jay-Z, his wife Beyoncé, and Tupac have all been studied there as well.
Lamar, 38, created a viral sensation in 2024 with his Drake diss track “Not Like Us,” which he performed at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in February. He’s the only rap star to win a Pulitzer Prize, which he did in 2018. He’s also won 22 Grammys, placing him third behind Jay-Z and Kanye West. Lamar is currently on the international leg of his Grand National Tour with SZA in support of his sixth studio album, GNX.
The class will cover Lamar’s music through the lens of the changing demographics in Compton, California, and its impact on Lamar’s life and career. He hopes his students will come away from the course with a renewed appreciation for the artist and how he fits into the Black cultural zeitgeist.
“Kendrick Lamar is one of the defining voices of his generation, and in many ways, both his art and life is reflective of the Black experience in many telling ways,” Welbeck said. “Being able to discuss his art in the environment that helps lead him into being the man that he is in a lot of ways can tell you about him as an individual, but can also talk about the journey towards self-actualization, particularly as it is related to the Black experience.”
