Hip Hop Writing On Campus!

On Thursday, April 20, Joshua Bruce and Steve Lessner held “Drop That Beat:” a Hip Hop Writing Workshop, at the Annandale Campus. Thirty-five faculty, staff and student participants interactively explored various rappers’ techniques of writing and invention as well as analyzing Rap lyrics for literary and writing techniques. During these interactions, participants discussed lyrics of Lauryn Hill, Lil Wayne, Nas and Rakim and watched interviews of various Hip Hop artists discussingn their creative processes. Participants had the opportunity to write their own raps, and many students performed their work to much applause!  Due to positive feedback from workshop participants, Bruce and Lessner are planning another Hip Hop Writing Workshop for November 2023 to honor National Hip Hop History Month.   

Joshua Bruce is a current NOVA scholar majoring in General Studies. Bruce displayed in-depth analyses and knowledge of Hip Hop artists, as well as poetic elements of Rap in writings produced for his completed English coursework at NOVA. Steve Lessner is an associate professor of English at the Annandale Campus where he teaches college composition courses using Hip Hop and popular music; as well as English-225: Reading Literature-Culture and Ideas with a theme of Hip Hop Activist Literature. Lessner also serves as a mentor for Man Up, NOVA’s minority male mentoring program.

Submitted by:
Steve Lessner, AN-English, SLessner@nvcc.edu