We all remember music in school. Typically, most Scottish kids were taught about the great periods of history: medieval music, the renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and modernist. Maybe a bit of a traditional fare if they were brought up in the Highlands. If you were lucky, you might specialise in more contemporary music at college or university. However, if you were an aspiring rapper, beatmaker or hip hop enthusiast? Next to nothing. Given its historic anti-establishment credos, that’s perhaps unsurprising. But hip hop isn’t just a form of “popular music” – it’s the most popular genre on the planet. It’s an art movement with an ethos and rich history that has inspired social movements and youth cultures around the world.
With that in mind, it’s heartening to see hip hop now being well and truly recognised on the syllabus. And who better to lead a module on hip hop for an HND music course than the mighty Steg G, legendary DJ and producer, community radio pioneer and experienced mentor and educator. Oh, and he won the Scottish Alternative Music Award for Best Hip Hop artist last year, the talented bastard.
Our roving interviewer Delaina Sepko, who hosts her own show on Sunny Govan Radio, spoke to him about the course at the Academy of Music & Sound in Glasgow and why it’s past time for hip hop education for the masses.
This is actually the first year the course is going to happen, right? How did it come about?
There’s definitely been a need for a more academic slant for hip hop culture and music education. People in hip hop don’t necessarily access further education for music and we need to change that. That’s one of the things that I’m keen on and one of the things the Academy is keen on. Obviously, they’ve seen Hip Hop is one of the biggest music forms in the world and they’re asking: “What kind of Hip Hop have we got here?” We’ve got to know our place in hip hop culture. We’ve got sway in this debate. They need us as much as we need them. My approach is always going to be Hip Hop and doing our best for the culture by working within academic circles.
You’re an asset, that’s why!
It’s funny – I get called Steg G in there and others get called “Mr” and all that. It’s a very exciting project and I know the Academy is 100% behind it. They see the potential not just for the students but for the Academy’s brand too to get in students that don’t access music education. A lot of the time, music education is accessed by people with more resources. Education – full stop – is accessed by people with more resources around them. Hip Hop, by its nature, is for all, for people traditionally with few resources. It’s good we’re bringing those two things together to create a pathway for people to get an education and a certificate that lets people know they know what they’re talking about. Getting a certificate that says you got an HNC or an HND in Hip Hop is a pretty chill conversational piece!
It is, yeah! So what would they learn as part of the course?
They’ll learn all aspects of Hip Hop including rapping, beat making, promotion, history, culture, how to navigate through the industry as a professional, and even how to be a teacher. It’ll be a small group of cohorts for the first year, like a hothouse where, for example, we can sit and listen to a Kendrick Lamar song. We’ll dissect it and look at what made it good, what made it great, what made it no so good. Where did it come from, historically? What were its influences? The course is excellent and it’s been designed for people with that interest.
Sounds like a good mix of theory and practice. I’d sign up!
Definitely, practice is really important. The classroom element is important as well, where you just get the knowledge and the foundation but hands on is so important. It’s a creative course. People need time to be creative. And there’s a performance aspect of it as well We’ll help refine their performances so they have the skills to get on that stage, take their raps and showcase them.
Are there any recitals, then?
Normally there would be a public. Hopefully there will be by the time it’s finished and we’re back to normal events and stuff like that. I’ve been doing auditions for it the last couple of weeks and I’ve been meeting the participants and I’ve been amazed by how keen they are and how skilled they are and how also they want to have a future in hip hop. And how serious they are about that too. So, that’s really exciting. And also I just really look forward to learning from the participants, too, and the energy that can be created. I’m not coming with a top down approach that I know everything. I know some things and they’ll know some things but together we can have that hothouse where we all support each other. Peer support for each other too. It’s a real important thing for us as well. A small group, a small group, small class but exciting.
Where is it based?
Initially, it’s going to be Glasgow. There is talk of doing it in Edinburgh but that’s well in the future. COVID slowed it down quite a bit. Just due to everything. But the academic term is starting at the end of September as well as normal. And there has been interest from Edinburgh. From people applying for their courses. It’s just the logistics of that. For the moment, it’s going to be online.
AMS has a bunch of pathways. Do you have any plans to introduce all of the them so that there’s a chance for everyone to meet someone and maybe learn something they might not have otherwise?
Definitely. That’s one of the exciting things about being a part of the Academy. I’m not their only tutor. There’s other tutors - experts - in other disciplines and they’ll have peers who are singer-songwriters, for example. It’s definitely a good environment for anyone who’s interested in being a creative musician because they’ll be inspired and supported. I tell the participants: “You’re not going to see me every week! You’ll get the best song writing tutors, you’ll get the best studio techs and then you’ll get me on a Friday when we come together for Hip Hop.”
How long is the course? Just one year?
One year for the HNC. Two years for the HND. Most of the auditions have expressed interest in the HND.
What are you most looking forward to about the course?
To see people’s curiosity and to see that wonder about music again. I’m really looking forward to that and the excitement of being in an environment where tutors believe participants are musicians and talk to them like musicians. For me coming out of where I come from and the background I come from, it would be the same. It would mean a lot to be in an environment like that.
Being able to take risks in a safe environment, which is encouraging and supportive.
Exactly. Students are coming from a wide variety of backgrounds and we have some female participants – mostly males at the moment – but things are getting better. I ran two short Hip Hop courses for the Academy over the summer and they were 50/50 [gender mixed], which was excellent, and we were happily surprised by that balance. One of the modules looks at women in Hip Hop and, for example, 10 songs made by female artists that changed Hip Hop. That’s pretty exciting stuff to be talking about, but we’re not just being tokenistic. Female hip hoppers are dope and we’re making sure that flag gets flown.
I’d noticed a special AMS blog post from July about adding in a special reading list around Black Lives Matter, Black culture and hip hop’s roots. I was really excited to see that.
Yes, we’ll talk about the political and social roots of Hip Hop a little bit. Hip Hop comes from the community and I’m very keen to incorporate the political thoughts that go on around it. That’s what makes it a community development tool. I might not say that in the first class, but it’s my methodology! It’s also a personal development tool, which ultimately helps the community.
It’s important to say we won’t be sweeping it under the carpet the shitty elements of hip hop either, though. We had some interesting conversations about the use of profanity in the Academy. Maybe not necessarily profanity, but maybe the word “bitch”. We’re not really 100% comfortable with its use, but I had to remind the Academy that the same points could be made about Rock. It’s not just black music or hip hop that has offensive language. They raised a bit of concern about sexist and homophobic lyrics – as they should – but they know my background so they know the music that I’m behind. They’ve seen what I’m involved in so they know it’s not an issue with me. But they know it can be an issue in the culture and that’s why it’s something we’re going to talk about in one of the modules. We won’t be sweeping the shitty elements of Hip Hop under the carpet. We’ll talk about them, we’ll explain why they’re shit and we’ll call them shit.
How does the course look at the different elements?
There’s the musical part of it and some of the historical and contextual part but hip hop is also DJing and beatboxing and breakdancing and graffiti writing and all these things. The next generation, the ten people or whatever, that’ll come out in two years’ time and where they’ll take hip hop culture, that’s an exciting thing.
Anyone who does the course is going to have more knowledge of Hip Hop than me and be more skilled than me. That’s the truth of it. They should be because they will have immersed themselves for two years in the Academy environment and they’ll have the confidence that comes with it. That would be a good legacy for me. I’m not necessarily talking about them being superstar rappers. I’m taking about being teachers, promoters, tutors and superstar rappers! Whatever they want to be.
Knowledge is power and also that piece of paper ultimately carries that power. There are not many HNDs going about in Hip Hop. I’ve got a lot of experience using hip hop as an educational tool, but not in a formal environment like the Academy. So that’s a new thing for me. It is quite formal, unfortunately, but it has to be. Just due to the nature of it.
I suppose that is the nature of getting that piece of paper. There are certain boxes that have to be ticked and tests that have to be taken and qualifications earned.
Exactly. I’m enjoying it. I’m a little out of my comfort zone, which is good for me, but the students are coming to me, so sometimes I feel like I need to be learning 15 levels above that. Pishing myself still! Which is pretty cool too. I’m sure they’ll put me on the spot.
It’s school time for everybody.
Exactly. I do see this as a pilot this year in terms of the delivery and shape of it. The course structure that I’ve got for it at the moment I imagine will change quite a bit.
Hopefully it’s a nice evolving thing that suits you and suits the folks coming to the course. You’re passionate about helping folks get their confidence up, but also generally raising up, your whole community. Who would you love to see enrol on the course?
We’re hoping that more marginalised young people will access music education because they see hip hop there at the Academy. They see tutors like me teaching there and that will be what they need to break down some of their barriers to music and education.
That’s what Hip Hop is about but it’s been lost. In Europe, it’s still here, but I’ve been speaking to my friends in the States and that side of Hip Hop is gone there. For me, that was one of the exciting things about Hip Hop. It was about doing your bit for yourself and your community and trying to get out the shit. In Europe, it’s different. In Scotland, it’s different still. We’ll need to teach Americans again!
Maybe you need to set up a branch of your course over there at some point!
Aye, to remind them of their history and where they came from! Things come in circles though. I imagine things will come back around.
Anything else you want to add?
Just that it’s an exciting time. I do see it as part of a wider pipeline into academia. People can go and do the HNC/HND at the Academy with me and if they want to, then they can go and do a degree in Scottish hip hop at Napier University with Dr Hook (aka Solareye)! It’s all coming together at the moment in interesting ways. It’s great to see that and people supporting each other, promoting each other and looking at the bigger picture. That’s the people that we’re aiming to get. Also the people who fall through the gaps [in the educational system] and if we can get them in, then that’s a real achievement.
I’ll leave you with one thing. There was a guy called Jimmy Reed from Govan. He was what they called a Red Clydesider and because there was no work at the ship yards, he decided to strike, but keep it open. Instead of shutting down, they built ships. They built free ships basically. They got the steel companies to donate the steel so they could show that could still do it. Jimmy’s thing about Govan was that if you gave people a chance, behind that window there’s a librarian; behind that one is scientist; behind that one there’s a jockey, but they’ll never get a chance to be jockey. He just won’t get that opportunity. Even with music, people from Govan don’t get to be musicians. You can’t tell me the folk behind those tenement windows aren’t talented. You know what I mean? So it’s more breaking down barriers, supporting the underdog, and getting it roon the man!
Read more about the course here.
Delaina Sepko
