“REAL INFLUENCE": Fans react as Temple University is reportedly set to offer a new course about Kendrick Lamar in Fall 2025

Temple University is reportedly set to offer students a new course about Kendrick Lamar, come this fall.

NBC Philadelphia reported just last month that Timothy Welbeck, a professor for the Department of Africology and African American Studies and the Director of the Center for Anti-Racism at Temple University, will be helming the course.

He has worked with the university for the last 14 years and has taught students about hip-hop and Black culture, urban Black politics, and even the late Tupac Shakur. This year, however, he will be introducing "Kendrick Lamar and the Morale of M.A.A.D City,” the outlet states.

News of the announcement has since broken out on X, and fans are teeming with excitement. Scores online are flocking to their keyboards to gush over the idea, with many even appreciating the rapper's iconic influence on contemporary society. Here's how one user reacted, for instance:

"Now this is what we call "REAL INFLUENCE". s/o to Dot."

The comments didn't end there:

"how to make bad music and lose beefs being the first lesson," one naysayer penned on X.

"I wish I had this when I was in college. There wasn’t as much focus on Black culture or Black literature. This is dope," someone else countered.

"they should be stripped of their funding for providing such useless educational material," another user opined.

"this should be a normalized course throughout all highscools and collages. not about kendrick tho. but about the underground and one for mainstream artist," yet another retorted.

See how the rest of X is reacting:

"“The hate get realer, the love get fake, but when you this great, that's how you should like it” I love this for Kendrick Lamar," one fan penned.

"The difference between Dot and others is that he is truly making art pieces that is getting study," another chimed in.

"A lot of kids going back to school now just because Kendrick started rapping that’s crazy," yet another added.

"How to get rich and forget about where you came from," a naysayer dissed.

Opinions online were visibly divided, though the prevailing sentiment seems to be that of appreciation and admiration for Kendrick Lamar, the only non-classical or jazz artist to ever have won a Pulitzer Prize for Music for 2018's Damn.

Here's everything we know about the forthcoming course at Temple University based on Kendrick Lamar's legacy and influence:

As reported by NBC Philadelphia, Professor Welbeck has made it clear that students at the university are also buzzing with excitement:

"Kendrick Lamar is one of the defining voices of his generation, and in many ways, both his art and life is reflective of the Black experience in many telling ways," he told the outlet. "Being able to discuss his art in the environment that helps lead him into being the man that he is in a lot of ways can tell you him as an individual, but can also talk about the journey's towards self-actualization particularly as it is related to the Black experience."

Temple University is also offering courses about Beyoncé, and Jay-Z, though according to Welbeck, Kendrick Lamar's influence and stature are what touts him as the "ripe" choice for such a course.

This course is reportedly expected to cover the "socioeconomic and cultural conditions of his hometown, Compton, California, and the urban policies that shaped the stories in his music," as well as "the evolution of the West Coast hip-hop and its influence on Lamar's sound and storytelling, diving deep into his discography."

The professor, who is a lawyer cum hip-hop artist himself, has been working on it for over a year, though the materials he has been drawing from date back to a decade:

"My current department chair was very open to the idea and received it almost immediately," Welbeck shared. "In a lot of ways, our department at Temple specifically, and Temple more broadly, has embraced the study of hip-hop in academic spaces."

The class is also reportedly expected to welcome some of Kendrick Lamar's collaborators, who will engage with the students and share insights into his work and the music industry. Per NBC Philadelphia, students will get to hear at least 3-4 albums of his as they take a look at the "evolution of hip-hop in various forms of self-expression," as well as Lamar's influences.

Registration for the course is currently open ahead of its launch this August, though spots are reportedly limited.

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As of this writing, Kendrick Lamar and his Luther collaborator SZA are co-headlining a tour in support of the former's sixth studio album, “GNX,” and the latter's reissue of “SOS Deluxe: Lana.”

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