How Hip-Hop Is Empowering Education: The Rise of the Hip-Hop Educator

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2025 PASEsetter Award Winner Dyalekt, Pockets Change

2025 PASEsetter Award Winner Dyalekt, Pockets Change, acceptance speech

In classrooms across the world, an unconventional yet deeply powerful tool is reshaping how students engage with learning: hip-hop. Once dismissed by traditional educational systems, hip-hop is now emerging as a transformative force for student empowerment, identity development, and creative expression.

One powerful example of this movement is Brian Kushner, better known as Dyalekt, a “hip-hop educator” who has spent over 20 years using the art form to teach, uplift, and inspire.

From the Courtroom to the Classroom

Dyalekt’s journey into education wasn’t linear. Originally aspiring to become a lawyer, he became disillusioned after working in a legal office during the controversial acquittal of Amadou Diallo’s killers in 1999. “I wanted to help people, but I felt powerless,” he said in an interview with People Magazine [^1].

That moment pushed him to focus on his creative passions. He began performing spoken word and hip-hop, eventually taking a gig to rap for third graders. “That moment changed everything. I saw how music could break down walls and connect with students on a real level,” he recalled.

Reimagining Education With Rhymes and Rhythm

Despite having no formal training in education, Dyalekt embraced what he calls “hip-hop pedagogy” — a teaching method that uses rap, beats, and street culture as a bridge between curriculum and students' lived experiences.

He now serves as the Director of Pedagogy at Pockets Change, a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy through hip-hop. Through rhyme, rhythm, and storytelling, students learn real-world money skills while simultaneously gaining confidence and voice.

> "Hip-hop empowers students to question the world, express their truths, and dream bigger," Dyalekt explains.

His recently released track, "Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Teacher", is not just a tribute to educators, but a campaign to fund under-resourced classrooms via Donors Choose. It’s a celebration of teaching as an act of resistance, joy, and liberation.

Why It Works

According to education researcher Dr. Christopher Emdin, author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y'all Too, hip-hop education “centers students' cultural backgrounds” and invites them to bring their full identities into the classroom. This creates trust, engagement, and a deeper commitment to learning [^2].

Moreover, data shows that when students see themselves reflected in the content, they perform better academically and socially. A 2020 Stanford study found that culturally relevant pedagogy increases literacy rates among students of color by as much as 30% [^3].

The Bigger Picture

What began as a classroom experiment has grown into a global movement. From workshops in South Africa to spoken word classes in Chicago, hip-hop education is not a fad — it’s a pedagogy built on community, resilience, and relevance.

Artists like Dyalekt, organizations like Pockets Change, and educators worldwide are proving that beats and books are not mutually exclusive. In fact, when combined, they can change lives.

Sources:

[^1]: People Magazine (May 2025). Hip-Hop Educator Dyalekt Debuts “Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Teacher”. https://people.com/hip-hop-educator-dyalekt-debuts-damn-it-feels-good-to-be-a-teacher-exclusive-11730839

[^2]: Emdin, C. (2016). For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y'all Too. Beacon Press.

[^3]: Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (2020). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Literacy Development. Study Summary