Kendrick Lamar’s Music To Be Studied In New Temple University Course

Temple University is set to offer an in-depth exploration of Kendrick Lamar’s music and legacy in a new course launching Fall 2025.

Titled “Kendrick Lamar and the Morale of M.A.A.D City,” the class will be taught by Timothy Welbeck, Assistant Professor in the Department of Africology and African American Studies.

A lawyer, scholar, and Hip-Hop artist in his own right, Welbeck brings a multifaceted perspective to the curriculum, which aims to examine the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper’s impact on Black culture, identity, and resistance.

“Kendrick Lamar is one of the leading voices of his generation, with a keen ability to articulate various dynamics of Black life and the quest for self-actualization — particularly capturing narratives of marginalization and the resilience to rise above it,” Welbeck shared on Instagram.

According to WHYY, the course will “take an Africalogical approach, examining Lamar’s life through an Afrocentric lens. It will explore the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of his hometown, Compton, California, and the urban policies that shaped the stories in his music.”

This isn’t Welbeck’s first time teaching Hip-Hop at the university level. He previously helmed the course “Hip-hop and Black Culture” at Temple, and his work continues a growing academic tradition of studying Lamar’s artistry.

Similar courses have been taught at prestigious institutions such as Georgia Regents University, where his album To Pimp a Butterfly was dissected in a sociology class, and Harvard University, which included Lamar’s work in its “Hip-Hop Archive & Research Institute.”

The announcement comes as Lamar continues his Grand National Tour alongside SZA, following the explosive momentum of his recent chart-topping single “Not Like Us” and acclaimed GNX album

See Timothy Welbeck’s Instagram post below.