Nas has spent decades insisting hip-hop deserves serious academic study. At Harvard University, that argument now lives inside the institution itself.
In 2013, Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research launched the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship. According to the university, it stands as the first academic fellowship named after a hip-hop artist. The move marked a turning point, signaling how far rap culture had traveled from park jams to Ivy League halls.
Born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, the Queensbridge MC reshaped lyrical standards with his 1994 debut Illmatic. He followed with It Was Written and later reaffirmed his relevance through the King’s Disease trilogy. Outside the booth, Nas has invested heavily in preserving hip-hop history, including a reported $2 million contribution to The Hip-Hop Museum planned for the Bronx.
The fellowship reflects ideas Nas shared long before academia caught up. In 2013, he explained how early lyrics shaped his thinking.
“One thing that drew me to hip-hop was the things Kurtis Blow was saying, the things Melle Mel was saying,” Nas said at the time.
Harvard University Announces 2026 Nas Hip-Hop Fellowship Application
He recalled asking elders to break down bars from Run-D.M.C. and Rakim. “Hip-hop is important like computer science,” he added. “If you want to understand the youth, listen to the music.”
That perspective defines the fellowship’s mission. Harvard opens the program to writers, journalists, filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and scholars across multiple disciplines.
Fellows arrive from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, and North America. Their work focuses on African and African American studies and the wider African diaspora.
The program operates through the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute, with support from the Marcyliena H. Morgan Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute. Participants study hip-hop, art history, Afro-Latin American studies, education, design, creative writing, and related fields.
Fellows take part in weekly colloquiums, workshops, and research sessions while working from offices inside the Du Bois Institute. Harvard selects up to 20 scholars per cycle, with funding often provided.
Applications for the 2026–27 academic year close on Jan. 30, 2026. For Nas, the fellowship confirms what hip-hop has always represented.
Knowledge, critique, and survival now hold a permanent seat at Harvard.
Leave a Reply