Nas was honored with the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal during a ceremony at Harvard University yesterday (September 30).
Nas is the first rapper to receive the historic award for his contributions to culture, human rights, and the arts central to the African and African-American community.
“Historic night for the rap game,” The Queens native says in an Instagram post. “At the Hutchins Center Honors for the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal ceremony. This is a first for the Rap Game to receive this award but, definitely not the last. Thank you.”
The W.E.B. Du Bois Medal is the highest honor in Harvard‘s African-American Studies field.
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Among other 2015 W.E.B. Du Bois Medal recipients include boxing legend Muhammad Ali and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
In 2013 Harvard honored Nas by creating the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship.
The fellowship provides selected scholars and artists “with an opportunity to show that “education is real power,” as it builds upon the achievements of those who demonstrate exceptional capacity for productive scholarship and exceptional creative ability in the arts, in connection with Hiphop,” according to the Hutchins Center’s website.
Nas’ Instagram post is as follows.
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