Lupe Fiasco has been named a Saybrook Fellow at Yale University, marking the lauded lyricist’s latest honor in the world of higher education.
The announcement was shared on Twitter by the Chicago native on Thursday (March 30), who referred to Yale as his “other favorite school” outside of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where he was appointed a visiting professor last year.
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“Proud to announce I’ve been chosen to be a Saybrook Fellow at my OTHER favorite school in the whole wide world outside of MIT…@Yale,” Lupe tweeted. “Shout to Tom Near for nominating me to a place where against all odds two Chicagoans found a home in the Ivy League.”
In a separate tweet responding to the dean of Yale’s Saybrook College Head Thomas J. Near welcoming him to the Saybrook family, he added: “All kinds of honored!”
While it’s still unclear what the fellowship will specifically entail, Saybrook College’s website reads: “The Fellowship is intended to provide students and Fellows with opportunities for discussion in an atmosphere less formal than the classroom.
“They represent a considerable potential for informal discussions of your interests, academic or otherwise, but you must seek them out and make your interests known. You will find that they are eager to meet you.”
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The news comes after Professor Lu lead an introductory lecture at MIT last Decemeber titled “Lupe Fiasco presents ‘Rap Theory & Practice: an Introduction,” which he later uploaded on YouTube for all his fans to enjoy.
Described as “an exploration into the underlying fundamental functions, structures, and principles of rap,” the introductory class found Lupe delving into the concept of “shapes and details” when it comes to writing rhymes and the power of “surprises,” among other topics.
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Lupe also broke down lyrics from Eminem’s “Stan,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” and his own song “Jonylah Forever,” from 2018’s DROGAS Wave.
Lupe Fiasco’s position as an MLK Visiting Professor at MIT was announced last May alongside the appointments of associate professor of theater Eunice Ferreira and documentary filmmaker Louis Massiah, with all three being deemed experts in arts and humanities.
“I been holding this for a while. I’ll put together something more sophisticated later that really captures the nuance and gravity but for now I’ll just say it straight and raw: I’m going to teach Rap at MIT,” the Food & Liquor MC wrote on Twitter following the announcement.
He continued: “Syllabus isn’t built yet but I’m thinking its fruit to be had in looking at neuromorphic computation through the lens of Rap as a lossless data compression model with a dash of energy efficiency via refining Landauer’s principle applied to cytoarchitectonics. And some rapping…”
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Lupe is just one of a number of Hip Hop icons who have added the title of professor to their résumé. In 2020, T.I. teamed up with Dr. Melva K. Williams to teach the “Business of Trap Music” course at Clark Atlanta University.
