Faculty

Profile

Sam Sellers creates radically inclusive spaces through music at concerts, on dancefloors and in classrooms. With an expansive discography begun on wax in 2001, a performance career touching 5 continents, and over two decades in Education, there are countless places where you may have encountered him. Highlights include head coaching on MTV's MADE, headlining the Blue Note Jazz Festival in consecutive years, and facilitating interactive workshops from community centers in Uganda to teaching at schools and universities in NYC and beyond. His impact continues to grow with his dedication to artistic evolution, helping people connect through the cypher, pursuit of clarity in personal pedagogy and a deepening catalog. Recently he was Artist-in-Residence at AIR Cassis, France; released his first self-produced project, added to his C.V. teaching new courses at The New School, headlined Breakthrough Dance Fest in Zurich, CH, and was minted to 2019 End of the Weak Challenge of Champs U.S. Vice-Champion. He's been the official DJ for Saturday Night Live Season 43 & 44 afterparties; held down 4 years as resident DJ/MC at renowned jam session The Lesson; and has won every freestyle rap competition in NYC in the new millennium. and is in his 7th year teaching university seminars of his own design, where he is annualized part-time faculty teaching Hip Hop Skills, Style & Science, Hip Hop Pedagogy & Practice, Music as Calling and Career, and is the faculty advisor to The New School Hip Hop Collective. He is also an ordained wedding officiant, having performed 14 secular ceremonies. Along the journey, he has shared the stage and studio with Aloe Blacc, Antibalas, The Beatbox House, bell hooks, Big Yuki, Biz Markie, Blue Man Group, Common, Freestyle Fellowship, Gogol Bordello, Kanye West, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Marley Marl, Prince Paul, Robert Glasper, The Roots, Rosie Perez, and Slick Rick, among many others.

Degrees Held

BA in Political Science, Grinnell College (IA)

Professional Affiliation

Say Word Entertainment

Hip Hop Re:Education Project

Performances and Appearances

Blue Note Jazz Festival Headliner, 2015 & 2016

Research Interests

Critical Pedagogy in Praxis, Arts Education, Cultural Diplomacy, Creative Arts Resource Accessibility, New Models of Mentorship, Intersectional Sustainability in Music Careers, Hip Hop Elements as Framework for Teaching & Learning, Re/De-Contextualizing of Hip Hop Elements.

Awards And Honors

Grinnell College Alumni Award, 2022

Artist-in-Residence, Cassis AIR, Cassir, France, 2020

NYU Steinhardt School Hip Hop Education Fellow, 2010