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How Far These Rappers Really Got In School

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Some rappers never finished ninth grade math; others walked across a stage in a cap and gown with honors.

Nicki Swift’s video breakdown “How Far These Rappers Really Got In School” tracks eight of hip-hop’s biggest names back to their actual transcripts, and the range is wider than the genre’s dropout-culture reputation suggests. For every emcee who left the classroom for the booth before finishing tenth grade, there’s another who graduated straight-A, earned a bachelor’s degree, or went back for a GED years after going platinum.

• Jay-Z bounced between three Brooklyn-area high schools, crossing paths with The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes at George Westinghouse before eventually dropping out of Trenton Central High School in New Jersey.
• Eminem failed ninth grade three separate times at Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, and quit at 17, while Drake left Toronto’s Vaughan Road Academy to film ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’ before going back to earn his diploma in October 2012 at age 25.
• Kendrick Lamar graduated a straight-A student from Centennial High School in Compton in 2006, and G-Eazy came out of Loyola University New Orleans in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Music Industry Studies.

Brooklyn Hallways and a Cafeteria Rap Battle

Jay-Z’s academic record reads like a map of Brooklyn. He attended Eli Whitney High School until it shut down, then landed at George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, where he was walking the same halls as The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes — and reportedly squared off against Busta in a cafeteria rap battle that’s become part of hip-hop lore. He later transferred to Trenton Central High School in New Jersey but dropped out before finishing, choosing to chase music and street life full-time instead.

Failing Ninth Grade Three Times

Eminem’s path was rockier on paper. He struggled repeatedly with traditional coursework at Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, failing ninth grade on three separate occasions before finally walking away from formal schooling at age 17 to commit to rap. That backstory has become part of his own mythology — a guy who couldn’t pass ninth grade turning into one of the best-selling artists in music history, a contrast explored further in Tragic Details About Eminem.

Eminem failed ninth grade three separate times at Lincoln High School before dropping out at 17 to chase hip-hop full-time.

From the Degrassi Set to a Diploma at 25

Drake’s story runs in the opposite direction. He left Vaughan Road Academy in Toronto as a teenager to star on the teen drama ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation,’ putting traditional school on hold while his acting and music careers took off. Unlike most of his peers on this list, though, he circled back — earning his actual high school diploma in October 2012, at age 25, well after he’d already broken through in music.

The Straight-A Students and Degree Holders

Not every name on the list skipped graduation. Kendrick Lamar finished Centennial High School in Compton, California, in 2006 as a straight-A student, and Nicki Minaj graduated from Manhattan’s competitive Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she trained in acting — a chapter of her biography worth revisiting alongside Nicki Minaj – Do We Have A Problem? feat. Lil Baby (Official Music Video). G-Eazy went furthest academically, graduating from Loyola University New Orleans in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Music Industry Studies.

Cardi B graduated from Renaissance High School for Musical Theater & Technology and briefly enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, taking courses in French and history before dropping out to pursue music. Lil Wayne left Eleanor McMain Secondary School in New Orleans at just 14 to sign with Cash Money Records, but he didn’t abandon education entirely — he later earned his GED and took psychology courses at both the University of Houston and the University of Phoenix.

Eight rappers, eight completely different report cards — from Eminem’s three failed attempts at ninth grade to G-Eazy’s actual diploma in Music Industry Studies. The video runs just over four minutes and stacks these stories back to back specifically to make that contrast land, closing on Lil Wayne’s GED as proof that even the guy who left school at 14 eventually went back for it.