Dr. Cornel West, one of the nation’s most recognized Black public intellectuals, this week released his second hip-hop CD, a collaborative project with some of the biggest names in rap and R&B.
The CD titled, “Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations,” by West, who teaches religion and African American Studies at Princeton University, enlists the sounds of artists like Prince, Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, Andre 3000, KRS-One and the late Gerald Levert.
It’s the second socially conscious CD for the academic who released “Sketches of My Culture” in 2001, a CD that was harshly criticized by former Harvard University president Lawrence Summers who publicly questioned West’s scholarship. Summers ridiculed the CD, arguing that it was not befitting of real scholarship. The public spat eventually caused West — who felt disrespected — to abandon his alma mater for Princeton.
“Sister Tilghman is qualitatively different than Brother Summers,” says West, referring to Dr. Shirley Tilghman, the current president of Princeton University, who helped to lure West to Princeton from Harvard. “The hip hop scared Brother Summers. It’s a stereotypical reaction.”
In a recent interview with Diverse, West said that he wants this latest CD to help “the older generation raise their voices and listen to the younger generation so that there can be an internal dialogue between the two generations.”
He adds: “We wanted to provide a danceable education that highlights the need for an awakening, for political engagement, for progressive politics and for sheer fun.”
In recent years, hip hop has become an important cultural form of expression that many Black intellectuals have embraced. For example, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, a professor at Georgetown University, has published a new book called Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop, and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, a 28-year-old professor at Temple University and a protégé of Dyson, routinely appears on television shows discussing this cultural phenomenon.
