Rapper IDK is helping other aspiring music artists achieve their dreams with his new music program. The “Shoot My Shot” rapper has collaborated with Harvard University, creating the free music business program No Label Academy.
No Label Academy will be geared towards BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), enabling members of those communities with an opportunity to build their music careers innovatively.
“This free course focuses on building a pipeline for BIPOC talent to kickstart their music careers, democratizing and reframing what is attainable in the industry,” according to the No Label Academy enrollment website. Even if you have never made music or have had experience as an artist you are still eligible to apply for the program.
IDK, whose moniker stands for Ignorantly Delivering Knowledge, established No Label Academy to help BIPOC understand that achieving music industry success is much more attainable in this generation.
“I decided to create this program for the purpose of letting people in the BIPOC community know that a job in the arts is a lot more realistic than what society makes it seem these days,” IDK, 29, said in a statement.
From Aug. 21-31 the 10-day program will be held in-person on the Harvard University campus in Boston. To make No Label Academy a more comprehensive program IDK has also partnered with Nike, Converse and Guess.
On board with IDK’s academy, clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School and the director of the Transactional Law Clinics Brian K. Price will be the program adviser.
As noted by Complex, “Anyone aspiring to do music as a business must think like and excel as an entrepreneur,” he wrote. “There must be a foundation of knowledge and how to apply that knowledge. Learning from experience is one way; learning from ‘the experienced’ is another. I’m happy to support initiatives that help learners understand how to make wise decisions.”
No Label Academy is now accepting applications.