Mentor Email and Preliminary Research

The progress I've made this week came from sending an email to the fan mail address for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. I've had correspondence back and forth with one of the interns (Jay) who helps manage fan mail for a few months now, during which I've sent examples of my own work and received small bits of advice on my music. However, I'm asking for a bit more here obviously, and I hope that he'll be able to assist me in getting the information I need, and maybe even hearing from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis themselves. If I can only hear from others working in the business, that will still serve to help my research, however, I do want to hear from an actual rapper, as that is the field that interests me most. A screenshot of the email can be found below.

Furthermore, I found a short video of a psych major at Spelman College who speaks about the importance of leaving your options open and pursuing an education regardless of what your overall aspirations are. Though the video doesn't go into much detail, it's a good starting point and presents the idea that one can still pursue their music while in college.

Finally, I did a bit of research on Kanye West, who is both a hugely successful musician and businessman. I found that while Kanye did go to Chicago State University to major in English, he eventually dropped out at age 20 to focus entirely on his music. His mother initially disapproved, but this final quote shows the change in her thoughts.

"It was drummed into my head that college is the ticket to a good life... but some career goals don't require college. For Kanye to make an album called College Dropout it was more about having the guts to embrace who you are, rather than following the path society has carved out for you." 

Hess, p. 558

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