A Hip-Hop Artist Says Yes to College

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What would you do if you had to choose between college and a national tour with your band? That was the decision hip-hop bassist Sean McPherson faced when he got the phone call he'd been dreaming of. You might think the choice an easy one, but McPherson had always seen college as the foundation of his career. Although he did put his education on hold to tour for three years with Heiruspecs, the band he's been playing with since high school, he was determined to return to college.

Why College?

Why does McPherson place such a high value on a college education? He thinks there are plenty of reasons for musicians to go to school. For one thing, college is a way to learn from accomplished artists. McPherson had the chance to study with jazz greats Dean Sorenson at the University of Minnesota, where he just graduated, and Milford Graves at Bennington College, where he started out.

And because he was at college, he was able to do more than improve his performance skills; he studied jazz theory and arranging as well. McPherson found that the college environment fed his creativity, partly because he was part of "a body of people [his] own age to interact and grow with."

It's not all about music, though. McPherson appreciates all that the liberal arts curriculum has to offer. "It's been tailored over a long time," he said, "and has a positive influence on other aspects of your life." On a practical level, he credits his liberal arts education, and college composition in particular, with helping him earn extra money and gain experience in another profession. He's paid to write press releases and get the word out about other groups.

On Work and School

McPherson didn't give up his professional life when he returned to college. In fact, he did more than take classes during the week and tour with his band every weekend. He also worked a day job as a personal care assistant in a group home.

Surprisingly, McPherson credits his busy schedule with turning him into a better student. The first time he was in school, and not working, he tended to finish his assignments at 3 a.m. the morning they were due. But the second time around, he finished them two days ahead of schedule so he wasn’t scribbling away in the van on the way to a gig. McPherson managed his transformation by finding spare pockets of time he'd never taken advantage of before. "There are these times I never even knew existed, like Friday mornings," he explained. "You learn to see the whole clock and see a couple of days into the future."

Thanks to his music career, McPherson matured in other ways as well. He never cut class, realizing that it would be like throwing money away. He never lied to a professor about why an assignment was late either, opting instead for straightforward, honest communication.

And he wasn’t intimidated by the infamous bureaucracy that plagues students at any large university. Making his way through the paperwork was a lot easier than the "unbelievable amounts of tough stuff you put up with touring when you aren't famous yet and you don't have a tour manager… It’s nothing compared to looking a guy in the eye who has no intention of paying you and saying, 'We're supposed to be getting 600 bucks.'"

Giving Back

All of McPherson's hard work is paying off. He's left campus for another national tour—this time with corporate sponsorship, a diploma, and a strong sense of purpose. He's brimming with ideas about how he can give back to the community, such as starting a scholarship fund with some of the band's concert proceeds. Why? Because, as he put it, college gave him a "bigger knowledge of how influential music can be."

Find out more about Sean McPherson's educational experiences in A Hip-Hop Artist Designs His Own Major.