A common stereotype surrounding rap music is that it encourages violence and has intense profanity. But in BVH’s International Baccalaureate (IB) Literature and Language Higher Level 2 classrooms, students are discovering something different, rap as literature. Students over the last month have been analyzing and learning Kendrick Lamar’s songs. And lyrics. More specifically, the artistic techniques and social insights usually only “classic” authors would use. With the Lamar unit being introduced last year, it quickly became one of the most popular parts of the course.
“We are studying two albums which the students really seem to like,” IB English HL2, AP Language and Accelerated 9 teacher Monfredo said. “We deep dive into it because it is more relevant to the [students] lives than a sixteenth century poem.”
This is what makes rap so valuable to study. It connects to the students who often see their own experiences within the music they listen to, and now they have the opportunity to study it. Looking at the history of the genre and the context of Lamar’s lyrics allows students to ponder deeply about political issues like racism, discrimination and prejudice that might not be in their daily lessons, yet are still relevant topics now. It also pushes for empathy, as students read about experiences and struggles they might not have deeply thought about while regularly listening to Lamar’s songs. Rap, specifically Lamar’s music, helps to challenge the harsh stereotypes that people would not regularly understand if it wasn’t for the help of the unit. Many people assume that rappers only focus on violence, drugs or inappropriate behavior, which has added to the idea that rap is not “real art.”
“I am not a rap music fan—it is not my genre—but listening to some of the songs in class, I like them and I connect to some of them,” Monfredo said. “I think there is value in everything and in any type of art.”
Studying Lamar allows students to see the careful work behind the lyrics–from figurative language and irony to rhymes and sound devices. The Kendrick Lamar unit shows that students should open their eyes to social issues. By analyzing Lamar’s lyrics more intently, students discuss topics like racism, inequality, and violence and learn that rap can be an important way to advocate social commentary.
“When we dive deep into some of these things, we are becoming more sympathetic and kinder human beings because we understand more,” Monfredo said.
By knowing this, rap is not only literary, it is both socially and culturally valuable.
“When students hear that we study Kendrick Lamar for the first time, they are excited and a little bit surprised,” Raymond Chhan, English 9 Accelerated and English HL1 and HL teacher 2, said. “Something pretty special with him is that he received a Pulitzer Prize and he’s actually recognized as an official IB author. IB recognizes him as a poet.”
Lamar being taught in the curriculum adds to cultural relevance and is academically validated by both students and teachers. That official teaching, he explained, allows students to view rap music in a new light.
“Generally speaking, in an English class we can read texts that feel a little disconnected from us. But the fact that Lamar’s work is so modern, relevant and representative of our culture helps students make that connection and tie in their personal interests to it,”Chhan said.
Both teachers state that analyzing rap helps tear down the stereotype that the genre is all vulgarity and violence. By analyzing Lamar’s lyrics, students see themes like racial stereotyping, poverty, injustice and political corruption.
“When you sit down and look at the lyrics, it becomes pretty quickly apparent that rap has a lot of poetry behind it,” Chhan said. “There’s a lot of specialized technique that’s very difficult to accomplish in any art form and Lamar does it with depth and intention.”
Students also see the importance of music.When studying it deeper, it changes their perspective. Alexanda Scott, a senior in IB English HL2, explained how the class showed her how to see rap in a different way.
“Any sort of expression can be used to tell a story. You can use your voice to advocate for people. Lamar talks about the imbalances faced by minorities in America, and it is eye-opening to see how he uses music to tell that story,” Scott said.
She introduced the narrative style of Lamar’s album good kid, m.A.A.d City, explaining how the songs follow a storyline, include voicemails, and explores issues like poverty, injustice, racial discrimination and the treatment of women of color that are not only faced in his personal life, but others who might resonate with it. For students, analyzing rap is also a lesson in literary analysis in providing context to real world issues, while still making it enjoyable for the audience.
“It was not like I did not know it was powerful, it is that I did not take time to analyze it like we do in class”, Scott said. “Studying it helps us understand people in a way we might not normally in other forms of literature.”
She shares that rap helps advocate other issues: both rap and literature explore social issues, use complex storytelling, and sometimes include language some might consider vulgar.
“If you evaluate a song in context, you can see the different levels and meanings behind it, just like you would with a novel or poem,” Scott said.
By studying rap in school, students gain more than literary skills—they also gain empathy and cultural awareness of things going on. In context to Lamar, the awareness allows students to understand the ideas that Lamar is so desperately trying to pronounce, that would not regularly be understood if it wasn’t for analyzing.
“When we dive deep into some of these things, we are becoming more sympathetic and kinder human beings because we understand more,” Monfredo said.
Normally rap is often criticized, but these lessons in IB English HL2 teach that the genre deserves respect and serious analysis. Rap may not be seen as traditional literature, but in BVH’s IB Literature and Language HL2 classrooms today, it is shutting down stigma and proving its value as an art, as social commentary, and as a way for students to connect with the world they are growing to live in.
