It looks like the Based God has been requested to drop his knowledge on a collegiate level, once again. Having already given lectures at NYU, UC Riverside, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon, rapper Lil B will be making his way to UCLA on Thursday, May 28. The way Lil B is going, he may just start picking up adjunct professor gigs.

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“Blue Lights” is the first song off his upcoming project, Nocturnal.

Side note: He kind of sounds like Tyler, the Creator, doesn’t he?

The post New Music: Orrin Campbell – “Blue Lights” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photo by Neda Jebelli

This past Thursday, September 26th, Tariq Trotter aka Black Thought sat down with Professor Millery Polyné for New York University’s Albert Gallatin Lecture Series. The free event was held at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study’s Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for the Performing Arts and was attended by roughly 150 students, alumni and public listeners.

The Roots’ frontman spoke at length on topics such as his first rap group (which included Beanie Sigel), the visual arts being his first love, his relationship with Bill Cosby and his involvement in the Soulquarians: “It was a movement. We inspired each other. The competition strengthened the union, raising the bar as a collective.”

Ever the proud Philadelphian, Black Thought drew surprised laughter when he compared Will Smith‘s storyteller flow to Slick Rick‘s: “Will Smith was Slick Rick before Slick Rick, only more PC and less jewelry.” But the response was more subdued when he compared Schooly D‘s cadence to Ice-T‘s: “Ice-T rapped just like Schooly D, only with a California accent.”

While explaining the reason for the political nature of his rhymes, the Grammy-winning artist revealed that his father died when he was two, and his mother when he was 16. Growing up hearing stories of his father’s involvement in the Islamic community gave him a social awareness that he possesses to this day.

“Where you are from and where you are going are coordinates that define where you are right now.” – Black Thought

A recent full-circle moment for Black Thought was being honored with a mural by the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. What makes this accolade so poignant is that the program began as the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti network, through which Trotter was once sentenced to 150 hours of “scrub time” for scrawling his art on a public building.

Stay tuned for an appearance by Black Thought in Sonia Sanchez‘ upcoming documentary as well as the release of his first solo album, The Talented Mr. Trotter.

The post Recap: Black Thought Lectures at NYU appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Lil B’s NYU lecture is already history, but the Based God has just posted this #rare video of the view from his angle. Check part one out below:

The post Watch Lil B’s NYU Lecture, As Seen From The Stage appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to attend a wonderful lecture by New York University president John Sexton on the “ecumenical university.” (Ecumenism, according to Wikipedia, “mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation.”) He spoke intimately about faith, life, and the state of global learning.

I got a chance to buttonhole Sexton — one of the world’s preeminent educators — during the reception that followed, and used the opportunity to botch the word “ecumenical” and ask him about Lil B, who is speaking at NYU tomorrow:

Before you run out, do you know that the most ecunemical rapper —

Ecumenical.

— ecumenical rapper is speaking at your school on Wednesday?

Who’s that?

Lil B.

Oh, really?

I kid you not. Most ecumenical rapper in hip-hop history. It’s amazing.

This is something I wouldn’t have known.

He’s been saying thank you to you on Twitter, so I was wondering…

Okay. Thank him for me! Twit him back. I don’t have a Twitter.

There you have it — John Sexton says TYBG. Just passing the message along. And here’s Lil B’s most ecumenical song for good measure:

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