--- title: Listen Clemson PhD Candidate Rap Album for Dissertation AUDIO description: Clemson University doctoral student A.D. Carson made a 34-track rap album for his Ph.D. dissertation, a first for the college. canonical: https://time.com/4678940/clemson-rap-album-dissertation/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-22T21:09:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:41:19.026Z og:title: This PhD Student Made a Rap Album for His Dissertation og:description: A.D. Carson is not your typical Ph.D. candidate og:url: https://time.com/4678940/clemson-rap-album-dissertation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e6690165855e208/6988bb5ef887dc2394e9929f/phd-dissertation-rap-album-clemson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: De Re Gallery Debuts Mauro Perucchetti's Pop Fiction Exhibition og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This PhD Student Made a Rap Album for His Dissertation twitter:description: A.D. Carson is not your typical Ph.D. candidate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e6690165855e208/6988bb5ef887dc2394e9929f/phd-dissertation-rap-album-clemson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This PhD Candidate Made a 34-Track Rap Album for His Dissertation  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 22, 2017 9:09 PM UTC  WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: DJ Kate attends the Mauro Perucchetti's Pop Fiction Exhibition at De Re Gallery on September 10, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rochelle Brodin/Getty Images for De Re Gallery) WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: DJ Kate attends the Mauro Perucchetti's Pop Fiction Exhibition at De Re Gallery on September 10, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rochelle Brodin/Getty Images for De Re Gallery)Rochelle Brodin—Getty Images for De Re Gallery  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 22, 2017 9:09 PM UTC A PhD candidate created a different kind of [dissertation](http://time.com/3852886/ubc-architecture-phd-dissertation-no-punctuation/) looks like with his own rap music. A.D. Carson is a student in Clemson University studying rhetorics, communication and information design, and his 34-track [hip hop album](http://time.com/4579861/donald-trump-hamilton-stephen-colbert/) titled [_Owning My Masters: The Rhetorics of Rhymes and Revolutions_](http://phd.aydeethegreat.com/) explores everything from identity politics to citizenship. On the project’s website, Carson provides lyrics and rationale for the tracks. He also notes that the samples he uses in his music, ranging from Aretha Franklin to audio clips from the movie _Django Unchained,_ work a bit like citing sources in a more conventional dissertation. According to [_The Clemson Newstand_](http://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/clemson-doctoral-student-produces-rap-album-for-dissertation-it-goes-viral/), Carson’s choice of medium is an integral part of his thesis’ message. “The central thesis of my dissertation is: Are certain voices treated differently?” Carson said. “I’m trying to examine how an authentically identifiable black voice might be used or accepted as authentic, or ignored, or could answer academic questions and be considered rightly academic. So I have to present a voice rather than writing about a voice.” Listen to Carson’s powerful full album below, and be warned, there’s a parental advisory. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4678940/clemson-rap-album-dissertation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4678940/clemson-rap-album-dissertation/"},"headline":"This PhD Candidate Made a 34-Track Rap Album for His Dissertation","datePublished":"2017-02-22T21:09:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:19.026Z","description":"A.D. 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