Howard University is stepping into a new chapter of academic innovation. The historically Black college and university, based in Washington, D.C., will introduce a three credit course dedicated entirely to Cardi B beginning in Fall 2026. Titled The Cardi B: Am I The Drama? The Art, Production, Marketing and Cultural Impact, the course will position the Grammy-winning rapper’s career as a living case study in music, media, and modern branding.
The move signals a broader shift in how universities are recognizing the educational value embedded in contemporary pop culture and Howard is leaning into that conversation fully.
What students will actually study
The course is designed to do more than play hit records. Students enrolled will examine the full architecture of how a major music campaign is built and sustained. That means looking closely at how production choices, media planning, marketing rollouts, and digital engagement all work together to shape an artist’s reach and longevity.
A key component of the curriculum will focus on how artists build public narratives not just through music, but through social media presence, visual identity, brand partnerships, and strategic public appearances. Students will also study how online discourse and audience behavior can extend or complicate an artist’s story in today’s fast-moving digital landscape. It is, in essence, a course about how culture gets made and who gets to shape it.
The partnership powering the program
According to HBCU Buzz, the course was developed in collaboration with the Warner Music Blavatnik Center for Music Business, a partnership that adds significant real-world weight to the academic framework. Through this collaboration, students will gain access to mentorship opportunities, industry training, and professional networks within the music business bridging the gap between classroom theory and practical career readiness.
This connection to a major music institution gives the course an edge that few university programs can offer, particularly for students looking to break into an industry that often rewards access and relationships as much as talent.
Where it fits at Howard
The Cardi B course is also being integrated into Howard University’s growing Hip Hop Studies program. The university’s Hip Hop Studies minor examines the history, cultural significance, and business practices of hip hop across multiple disciplines. The new course fits naturally within that structure by treating Cardi B’s career not as an isolated cultural moment, but as part of a larger music business ecosystem worth serious academic attention.
This expansion reflects a commitment at Howard to ensure that hip hop a genre and culture rooted in Black American experience receives the same rigorous scholarly treatment as any other field of study.
The instructors bringing it to life
The course will be co taught by Dr. Msia Kibona Clark and Professor Pat Parks, two educators who bring distinct but complementary expertise to the subject. Their approach will incorporate a hip hop feminist perspective, addressing themes including media framing, public visibility, respectability politics, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating and thriving in the entertainment industry.
That lens matters. Cardi B’s career has never existed in a vacuum. Her rise has been accompanied by intense public scrutiny, cultural debate, and deeply gendered criticism, all of which the course will treat as rich academic material rather than tabloid noise.
Why this matters beyond campus
Howard University‘s decision to dedicate an entire course to a living, active artist like Cardi B is a deliberate statement about who belongs in academic spaces and what kinds of careers deserve serious study. For students passionate about music, culture, media, or business, the course promises to be one of the more relevant and practically grounded offerings available anywhere in higher education right now.
As Fall 2026 approaches, the course is already drawing attention well beyond Howard’s campus and for good reason. It represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking curriculum that prepares students not just for exams, but for the real and complex industry waiting for them on the other side.
