Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyesha Jennings.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
During my sophomore year in college, my professor, Dr. Emery Petchauer, shared that he had a Ph.D. in hip-hop. What he really meant was his research interest focused on hip-hop studies and hip-hop pedagogy. As someone who identified as a hip-hop head and was a trained dancer, and generally immersed in the culture, what he shared sparked my interests. I initially was prepping to become a high school English teacher, but after completing my student teaching experience, I thought about that same professor and told myself “I want to do what he is doing”. From there, with Petchauer’s guidance, I began my journey as an academic hip-hop scholar. This included going to graduate school, landing a full-time job in higher education, attending and presenting at conferences within my discipline, going back to graduate school for my Ph.D., publishing my research, and landing speaking engagements.
My introduction to the academy was community colleges. After six years of teaching at two-year academic institutions, I transitioned to North Carolina State University as a non-tenure-track full-time lecturer, teaching a 3/3 load in the First-Year Writing Department where I also served as a faculty mentor to graduate teaching assistants and a member of the Diversity Committee. During my time in academia, I presented at over 15 composition, literature, and hip-hop conferences.
My first academic publication, “Teaching in the Mix: Turntablism, DJ Aesthetics, and African American Literature,” was published in 2017 and co-authored with Dr. Petchauer. In the article, we hone in on the aesthetics and sensibilities of hip-hop scholarship by examining how goal-oriented and compositional techniques of DJs were used to design my Survey of African American Literature course. Additionally, my first single-authored academic article, “City Girls, Hot Girls and the Re-imagining of Black Women in Digital Spaces,” was published in the inaugural issue of the Global Hip-Hop Studies Journal in 2020. The text offers a critical reading of “Hot Girl Summer,” a cultural phenomenon specific to Black girls, that was made popular by rap superstar Megan Thee Stallion. This research won two awards: the Heldrich-Dvorak Travel Fellowship for the 2020 Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference and the 2020 William E. Brigman Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Paper awarded by the Popular Culture Association.
My academic research and accomplishments have afforded me the opportunity to receive invitations to speak at some of the nation’s top universities including Virginia Tech, Virginia Common Wealth, Johnson C. Smith, and UNC-Chapel Hill. And because my professional identity sits both within and outside of academia, I have also been an invited speaker to non-academic spaces such as A3C Festival, RTP #180, and Wake County Library. Professionally, I have successfully navigated both academic and non-academic spaces whether as a speaker, writer, editor, curator, project manager, or content creator.
For the past four years, I have served as a freelance writer for the Indy Week, an alternative weekly newspaper that reaches an audience of 30,000+ in the Raleigh-Durham area. In July of 2020, I was assigned my own monthly hip-hop column where I publish multimedia written and visual content centered around North Carolina hip-hop.
Prior to joining the Indy’s team of freelance writers, from 2016-2017, I worked directly with Beats n Bars Festival founder to produce the 2nd annual festival. While working with the Beats n Bars leadership team, I fulfilled many roles from Festival Organizer to Conference Project Manager to Content Creator to Grant/Sponsorship Writer to Volunteer Coordinator, to Artist Hospitality Manager to social media and Marketing Assistant. My ability to work on multiple projects with tight deadlines in a fast-paced changing environment allowed me to execute each role seamlessly. The experience planning and producing public-facing art/cultural events and programs for Beats n Bars Festival led to additional opportunities to serve as a project manager or curator for other music and/or cultural events and programs.
The collaborative partnership that I am most proud of however is my commissioned contract with N.C.’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. In May of 2020, I received the opportunity to research, develop, write and submit three multimedia articles about North Carolina hip-hop trends for Come Hear NC. In collaboration with the Come Hear NC team, I produced written, audio, video, and multimedia content that was published on a variety of digital platforms. Together we also planned and produced a successful virtual public-facing art/cultural event, “Mic Check: Culture, Power, and the Politics of N.C. Hip-Hop”. A multimedia project, “Mic Check…” documented how North Carolina hip-hop artists used music to address contemporary forms of racial injustice. This past June, the Come Hear NC team and I published my second multimedia project, “Behind The Boards: Highlighting North Carolina Hip-Hop Producers”. The project celebrated some of North Carolina’s most talented producers from veterans with 15+ years of experience in the music industry and Grammy nominations to emerging producers.
My partnership with N.C.’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has led to new beginnings and an unexpected new career focus. I am now immersed in the marketing world and my new job title is Content Director for the North Carolina Arts Council where, as a part of the Marketing and Communications team, I oversee the creation of content and production of special programs that enhance the agency’s initiatives and communicated the public value of the arts and the programs of the N.C. Arts Council to constituents.
My story is a testament that you can LITERALLY do anything you want to do. I hold multiple professional identities but when I stop and think about what I do in each role, whether that’s a college professor, writer, speaker, content creator, or curator, I am always a storyteller. Storytelling allows me to merge all of my interests and skillsets. It allows me to tell the stories that often get overlooked.
Since August, I have freelanced for Vulture magazine, writing TV recaps for the Starz program Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book II: The Book of Ghost. As the magazine’s new Resident Hip-Hop Scholar, I also wrote recaps for ABC’s show, Queens.
When I think about how I got to where I am today, the answer is somewhat simple–with guidance, mentorship, curiosity, dedication, and persistence.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road? No. But it has for sure been an enjoyable one. I’m not sure if life is set up to be 100% smooth. Some of the challenges include not getting a grant or project funding, not getting my pitch to my dream media outlet accepted, not getting an academic publication published, having contracted opportunities fall through because of funding, or having limited opportunities because of regional location.
Also, I’m a new mom. So, Balancing being a new mom, finishing a Ph.D. program, starting a new job, PLUS freelancing is a lot.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As a multi-hyphenate creative, I do a lot of things. Hip-hop is my specialty. I am most proud that through my work I get to advocate for, show up for, and celebrate other people. I am currently writing for Vulture, my weekly recaps of Power Book II: The Book of Ghost are published every Sunday after the show airs. I also run a bi-weekly hip-hop column titled “HER TAKE: On Carolina Hip-Hop” for the Indy Week. And I am super excited about my new role with the North Carolina Arts Council. This role is allowing me to immerse myself in storytelling that is multi-media–2022 is going to be lit!
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
Absolutely, bell hooks All About Love. I would recommend reading all bell hooks, but All About Love challenges us to rethink our understanding of love. Some additional must reads for a variety of reasons are The Autobiography of Malcolm X, There Eyes Were Watching God, Black Feminist Thought, Parable of the Sower, Black Noise, Hip-Hop Wars, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about Racism, Between the World and Me, Chronicling Stankonia, We Want to do more than Survive, Will.
My current favorite app is Notion–it is a project management tool for personal and professional life–it has really made my life better.
Contact Info:
- Email: kyeshajennings@gmail.com
- Website: https://kyeshajennings.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyeshajennings/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kyeshajennings
Image Credits
Amanda Rudd
