Dr. A.D. Carson Gains National Momentum Ahead of Being Dope Release

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Nov. 18, 2025 — Dr. A.D. Carson, associate professor of hip-hop at the University of Virginia and the nation’s only tenured hip-hop professor, is entering his book-release month with major national visibility. His forthcoming memoir-theory hybrid Being Dope: Hip-Hop and Theory through Mixtape Memoir (Oxford University Press, Nov. 19, 2025) is already generating significant cultural attention following new features in Genius and HipHopSince1987, along with a recent live performance that continues his signature fusion of scholarship, sound, and storytelling.

With Being Dope, Carson challenges the boundaries of what academic work can look and sound like. Mixing lyrics, memoir, interviews, essays, and commentary, the book demonstrates how rap functions as both creative expression and intellectual method — a way of researching, theorizing, and understanding the world. 

Major Media Momentum Ahead of Book Launch

Genius Feature: “Being Dope” as Raw, Undiluted Scholarship

In a newly published Genius feature, Carson speaks directly to readers about why Being Dope intentionally avoids the “sugar-coating” often applied to hip-hop scholarship. “Books about rap are so different from actual raps,” he writes, explaining that the book presents lyrics side-by-side with the lived experiences that shaped them — without annotations or academic filters.

Carson positions Being Dope as a text that refuses to dilute itself for comfort:
 “It might be easier to read if it were mixed with something to make it less challenging. But then it wouldn’t be dope — at least not in its purest form.

”The feature highlights the book’s lyric-driven structure, including excerpts from tracks like “Furious,” the title-with-the-symbol piece, and “Being,” and positions the memoir as a transformative tool for educators, students, and hip-hop practitioners.
 

HipHopSince1987 Feature: “The Sound of Scholarship”

HipHopSince1987’s recent article — The Sound of Scholarship: How Dr. A.D. Carson Is Redefining Hip-Hop and Higher Learning — frames Carson as a leading voice in the evolution of hip-hop education. The feature emphasizes how his work challenges universities to take hip-hop seriously as a framework for critical thinking.

The outlet praises Being Dope as a book that “moves like a mixtape” and captures the dual power of hip-hop as both healing and critique. The article traces Carson’s path from his groundbreaking dissertation-album Owning My Masters to peer-reviewed musical projects such as i used to love to dream and his orchestral-rap collaboration and metaphors.

The feature notes Carson’s argument that hip-hop has always been a form of theory — and that his work simply asks institutions to finally hear it that way.
 

Recent Live Performance Underscores His Cross-Genre Influence

Carson recently performed live at The Southern Café & Music Hall (103 S. 1st Street, Charlottesville, VA), delivering a set that highlighted the same intellectual and emotional depth that shapes his written and recorded work. Sharing the stage with fellow artists Waasi and The Pocket Presence, Carson described the night as “a great time,” expressing appreciation for the creative energy and community that filled the room.

The performance blended new material with selections from earlier releases, reinforcing Being Dope’s central message: that rap, performance, and scholarship are intertwined forms of storytelling and theory. Audience response echoed the momentum seen across his recent media coverage, underscoring Carson’s ability to command both the stage and the classroom with equal force.

About “Being Dope: Hip-Hop and Theory through Mix-Tape Memoir”

Published by Oxford University Press, “Being Dope” is part memoir, part mixtape and part manifesto. Through a blend of narrative, verse and analysis, Dr. A.D. Carson offers an intimate reflection on how hip-hop can be used to build knowledge, heal trauma and challenge systems of power. The book releases Nov. 19, 2025, and is available for pre-order through major retailers and university outlets.

About Dr. A.D. Carson

Dr. A.D. Carson is an award-winning performance artist, educator and associate professor of hip-hop at the University of Virginia. His research and creative work explore race, justice and culture through the lens of hip-hop, combining scholarship with lived experience. He is the creator of the peer-reviewed rap album “I used to love to dream,” the viral dissertation “Owning My Masters” and the orchestral-rap project “and metaphors.” His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, NPR Code Switch, SPIN and The Washington Post.

Website: aydeethegreat.com
Instagram: @aydeethegreat
X (Twitter): @aydeethegreat
Spotify: A.D. Carson
Bandcamp: Metaphors — Live
Publisher: Oxford University Press – Being Dope