Nas and Mayor Mamdani Spotlight Bronx School Integrating Hip-Hop into Curriculum

Who would’ve thought hip-hop would take it this far? Earlier this month, New York City launched the Bronx School of Hip-Hop with an inaugural freshman class of about 100 students. Now, Mayor Zohran Mamdani ’s office has released a video documenting the high school’s opening, featuring founding principal Jason Reyes and rappers including Nas , Melle Mel, and Fat Joe. Watch it below.

Nas was not at the school on its first day, but he spoke about the significance of hip-hop’s birth 53 years ago during a sitdown with the rapper-turned-NYC mayor. “Hip-hop unveils the truth. Hip-hop tells you exactly what your city looks like, sounds like, feels like,” the Queens native explained. “It was an outcry from people who demanded things to change and to tell the world what we were going through. And that came from a city that was going through a whole lot.”

Providing insight into how the school can improve the city, one of Mamdani’s Top 5 favorite rappers continued, “I know so many people from [my] neighborhood that has so much potential, but there was nothing showing them a different way.”

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Marking the first of its kind in New York City, the school will likely produce more than its fair share of rappers, but its project-based curriculum intends to increase students’ engagement by tying all the core subjects to the five elements of hip-hop.

MCing will foster students’ English Language Arts (ELA) and communication skills, DJing teaches math and technology, graffiti develops design and literacy, breakdancing examines science and health, and knowledge of self nurtures critical thinking.

Further demonstrating that he just gets it , Mamdani closed the video by saying, “To keep writing, to keep creating, to keep dreaming. It’s also a reminder of what the city has to be. We have to forever be hungry. We can’t be content with having been the birthplace of hip-hop. We want it to still be the home.”

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The Bronx School of Hip-Hop is just one of the new schools that opened across the city this year, including the Bronx School of Arts & Exploration and three other schools in Queens.

Editor’s Note: Revisit all of our 2023 coverage of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary , including the best hip-hop albums and best hip-hop songs of all time.

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_Originally reported by [Consequence](https://consequence.net/2026/09/bronx-school-of-hip-hop-video-nas-zohran-mamdani/)._