Hip Hop Writing 2.0 on Campus!

On Wed. Nov. 15, Joshua Bruce and Steve Lessner held the “Check Your Technique: Hip Hop Writing Workshop 2.0” at the Annandale Campus. This interactive workshop allowed faculty, staff and student participants to explore various rappers’ techniques of writing, invention and delivery. They also learned to analyze rap lyrics to identify poetic elements. During these interactions, participants discussed lyrics of DMX, Jay-Z,  Big Daddy Kane and Rapsody, watched interviews of various Hip Hop artists discussing their creative processes and researched and discussed writing strategies of their favorite artists. At the end of the workshop, participants had the opportunity to write their own raps, and many performed their work to much applause! Due to positive feedback, Bruce and Lessner are planning another Hip Hop Writing Workshop for Spring 2024.  

​​​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. He also teaches 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 first generation male mentoring program.

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