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Hip-Hop : Berklee, Boston and Beyond

This guide serves as an entry point into creating and researching about hip-hop music and culture.

Explore the ways in which hip-hop is a local and a global phenomenon

Hip-hop at Berklee

 

There are many ensembles and courses related to hip-hop at Berklee- from ensembles, to songwriting courses, to productions courses. To catch a glimpse at what's happening, check out the Identity ProjectBerklee's first hip-hop compilation comprised of 15 songs remotely produced by current Berklee students and alumni. The collection of songs include producers, songwriters, and artists who have completed the Contemporary Writing & Production Hip-Hop course at Berklee taught by Assistant Professor Shea Rose


For those looking to explore some of the tools and techniques of the trade, check out the Creative Technology Center, where you can utilize their workstations and equipment, or sign up for peer training sessions to hone your beat-making skills on various DAWs or other software. 

Boston has long had an overlooked role in the history of hip-hop. There are many notable hip-hop events and artists to come out of Boston, such as Guru (of Gang Starr), Marky Mark, and some of rap's earliest producers, Maurice Starr and Michael Jonzun, who worked at Sugar Hill Records. And for a city that struggles to overcome it's racist past, the scene has always been producing head-turning artists.

 

For a deeper look into the complicated history of the Boston Hip-hop scene, check out some of these articles, then explore some of the resources that are letting the local scene flourish.