“Just listened to the album. S is dope!” Phonte texted me after he checked it out. “Salute!”
I responded with sincere appreciation for his encouraging words. I told him they meant a lot to me, especially coming from him.
“Nah, bro. The bars are on point,” he replied. “Much love and respect.”
This informal conversation with a highly esteemed rapper – one whose work I have studied and hold in high regard – is perhaps the most resounding affirmation I can ask for as an artist.
The situation is similar in academia. That is, in order to establish oneself as a serious scholar, an academic must get their work – typically some sort of written product – published in a peer-reviewed journal, which is a journal in which works are evaluated by others in a given field to ensure their relevance and quality.
As a rap artist who is also a professor of hip-hop, I always make it a point to have my songs reviewed by other artists I admire.
So when I released “i used to love to dream” – my latest album – in 2020, I turned to Phonte Coleman, one half of the trailblazing rap group Little Brother.
“Just listened to the album. S is dope!” Phonte texted me after he checked it out. “Salute!”
I responded with sincere appreciation for his encouraging words. I told him they meant a lot to me, especially coming from him.
“Nah, bro. The bars are on point,” he replied. “Much love and respect.”