Augusta University
Adam Diehl
Lecturer of English
- Augusta GA UNITED STATES
Professor Diehl is an expert in hip-hop culture, lyrical analysis, Rap as a form of literature and specifically the works of Kendrick Lamar.
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Biography
Professor Diehl is an expert in hip-hop culture, lyrical analysis, Rap as a form of literature and specifically the works of Kendrick Lamar.
Areas of Expertise
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Media Appearances
Three professors unpack the themes on Kendrick Lamar’s album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
Crackmagazine.net online
2022-05-19
It’s been five years since the Compton rapper released DAMN. and on his final Top Dawg Entertainment release, Kendrick has a lot to say. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is a raw, confessional listen: one that sees the artist admit to infidelity, sex addiction, his learnings, his flaws. As with any Kendrick release, it’s incredibly layered and we’re still in the process of analysing its multitude of references – which ranges from biblical imagery to that time he asked a white fan to self-censor a racial slur onstage. So where do we begin? We asked three professors – all of whom have taught a course on Kendrick Lamar – to weigh in on a chosen theme. We hit up Adam Diehl – an expert in hip-hop culture and lyrical analysis – along with Anthony B. Pinn and Dr. Christopher Driscoll, who both co-edited the book Kendrick Lamar and the Making of Black Meaning. Pinn is an American professor whose work lies at the intersection of African-American religion and humanist thought; Driscoll is a scholar of race, religion and culture.
Q&A: Professor Who Teaches a Kendrick Lamar Course Talks ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’
Spin online
2015-03-17
Professor Adam Diehl teaches a course on Kendrick Lamar’s classic 2012 album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, incorporating the writing of James Joyce and showings of Boyz N the Hood, among other things.
Kendrick Lamar 101: Georgia Professor Is Teaching a Class Inspired by good kid, m.a.a.d. city
Fader online
2014-09-02
Adam Diehl, professor at Georgia Regents University, teaches an English course that uses Kendrick Lamar's highly-praised 2012 album good kid, m.a.a.d. city as a jumping-off point for a semester-long deep dive into comparable stories about young urbanites in film and literature.
Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid Maad City is being taught as a text in schools
Independent online
2014-08-22
Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid Maad City album was widely praised for its storytelling and lyrical craftsmanship, and is now the subject of a college English class alongside James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Georgia students study Kendrick Lamar for class
USA Today online
2014-09-01
Around Augusta, Georgia, the only thing that can be heard blasting from Patrick Frits’ car is Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city. But, for the junior sociology and criminal justice major, listening to the album isn’t just recreational — it’s scholastic.
A TALE OF TWO KENDRICKS — THE DAMN. MUSIC VIDEOS DECODED
MTV News online
2017-08-22
For more than a decade the Compton, California, rapper has told the tale of a good kid living in an environment that's at turns brutal and unforgiving. The Kendrick we've come to know is a man constantly at war with himself: In song, he wrestles with what it means to be a good person who can't help but commit horrible deeds. Recreating those vivid lyrical descriptions for a music video, though immensely challenging, has always been important to the multiplatinum rapper. This year though, with the release of DAMN., something clicked.
Leaders of the New School: Hip-Hop Classes Across the Country
The Root online
2014-09-05
Did you enjoy Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city? There’s now a class for that. Multiple colleges are offering hip-hop-focused classes this fall. From courses on Jay Z to Tupac, these pop-culture classes are proving that rap is worthy of hefty academic study:
Augusta University professor uses Kendrick Lamar and hip hop as a form of literature
WJBF tv
2022-06-06
Kendrick Lamar has been deemed one of the best lyricists and one of the biggest hip hop artists of this current musical generation. Augusta University professor Adam Diehl, Department of English and World Languages With the recent release of his anticipated album “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers,” Kendrick Lamar’s influence can be seen almost anywhere, including the classroom. Adam Diehl, an Augusta University professor, is using hip-hop culture, lyrical analysis and rap as a form of literature including the works of Kendrick Lamar.
EDUCATION5 musical artists whose careers became the curriculum
blackenterprise.com online
2024-06-27
From Grammy Awards to world tours, clothing lines, sporting endeavors and more, music artists have long expanded their brand beyond just music. Each latest profession step attracts praise and criticism, making their durability on the charts and in the business under scrutiny, and college professors take notes. Over the past few years, increasingly universities across the country have been taking a more in-depth take a look at a few of today’s great musical artists, with professors dissecting the lyrics and messages behind the songs in an effort to bridge academia and popular culture to be able to educate the next generation. Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar’s debut album, “Good Kid, MAAD City,” silenced critics who questioned the talent of the young Compton native. Now, thanks to varsity courses inspired by the album, it’s secure to say that Lamar’s work has earned him a spot in hip-hop history books. Thanks to instructor Adam Diehl, students at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, Georgia can now take a more in-depth take a look at Lamar’s musical portfolio, featuring the rapper’s debut album, James Joyce, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks and the 1991 film “Boyz in the Hood” as basic materials for classes. “I chose to focus the class on Good Kid because I believe Kendrick Lamar is the James Joyce of hip-hop – that is, in terms of the complexity of his storytelling, his command of the canon, and his constant focus on the city in which he lives. upbringing – Compton,” Diehl says
Answers
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Did the Super Bowl appearance by hip-hop artists take the genre to a whole new level as far as mainstream music?
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If the Super Bowl halftime show in 2022 did anything, it showed that rap and hip-hop are now as household friendly as rock, country and pop. Perhaps because so many best-selling rock acts had already played the halftime show, and perhaps because the pop acts of recent years had failed to maintain the public's attention, the 2022 halftime show featured one of hip-hop's founding fathers: Dr. Dre. His menagerie of artists' careers stretched over 30 years, and the time constraints of the show made hip-hop the ideal soundtrack. In a 13-minute set, six performers all got their moment in the California sun, and the mega-mix model so often used in clubs was perfect to segue from artist to artist.
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How has the hip-hop music scene changed in the last five years?
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The hip-hop music scene has changed faster than any other genre the last five years. Whereas country still uses radio play and music videos to gauge success (along with album sales and streaming numbers) and rock uses touring to supplement and offset recording costs, pop and hip-hop have a great advantage in that they can raise people to stardom almost overnight.
