When Megan Thee Stallion put her now ex-boyfriend, NBA player Klay Thompson, on blast for his infidelity, the manosphere blamed her. They say she’s “too sexual,” “a gold digger,” when she’s the Grammy winner.
No — Stallion, is in fact, one of the best rappers of today.
So, we ought to make it clear: Stallion doesn’t need him, and with an estimated net worth of US$40 million, she’s hardly a gold digger.
There is more to learn about Stallion, if you only know hit singles like “WAP” and “Hiss.” One being the fact that the rapper has a bachelor’s degree in health administration.
Born and raised in Texas, Stallion graduated from Pearland High School in 2013, and went on to begin her university degree at Prairie A&M University — an HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities).
She would eventually complete her degree at Texas Southern University in 2021, honouring her late mother and grandmother, at the height of her rap career.
Here are 6 other rappers with unexpected degrees
J. Cole
In 2014, J. Cole released his most iconic song to date, “No Role Modelz,” which has now surpassed 2.9 billion streams on Spotify. In 2012, he received his first Grammy nomination for “Best New Artist” after the release of his debut, “Cole World: The Sideline Story.”
In 2007, J. Cole had just graduated from St. John’s University. The two-time Grammy award attended Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, earning a 4.2 GPA. He would go on to become a communications major and business minor at university, and kept his grades high, graduating magna cum laude with a 3.8 GPA.
Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino changed the R&B and hip-hop scene forever when he dropped “This is America” in May 2019. A bold and honest portrayal of the Black American experience, the song and music video features Black diaspora dances, and references gun violence, slavery, the commercialisation of Black culture — ironically, becoming Gambino’s first #1 hit.
A writer, actor, comedian, and musician all in one, Gambino holds a bachelor’s degree in dramatic writing from the New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts (Class of 2006). Raised in Georgia, Gambino attended two different high schools and maintained a 3.82 GPA.
Saweetie
Without even having a full-length debut album to her music catalogue, Saweetie has already taken the rap scene by storm in recent years. Her breakthrough came in 2017 when she released “Icy Girl” on Soundcloud in 2017, a remix of Khia’s “My Neck, My Back (Lick It).” Fans still await her debut album, “Pretty B*tch”, which has been delayed mainly due to perfectionism.
Like Stallion, Saweetie started her degree programme at a different university to the one she graduated from. She had originally began studying communication and business at San Diego State University, before transferring to the University of Southern California (USC). Pursuing a BA in Communication, she would graduate in 2016 with a 3.6 GPA.
2 Chainz
It’s safe to say: 2 Chainz has found quite the upward trajectory. Growing up in a home where his father never went to work, he would encounter drugs from the very moment he set foot into this world. He’d sold drugs for his mother and boyfriend and got into legal trouble in high school. Still, he managed to transform his life and hustled his way into a Grammy-nominated career.
Despite his personal challenges, 2 Chainz performed well in school, both academically and athletically. He graduated from North Clayton High School, and received a scholarship to attend Alabama State University for basketball — his jersey being #23. He’d transfer to Virginia State University but eventually return to Alabama State to complete his degree.
Lady London
Lady London is an irreplaceable kind of talent that comes when natural poets become rappers. In an age where bars and melodies are written for 30 seconds of TikTok fame, people caught wind of her lyrical, vulnerable approach to rap through her freestyling videos on social media. She made her debut in 2023 with the EP, “S.O.U.L. (Signs of Universal Love).”
London’s degree isn’t connected to her degree in the slightest. The “Pop Ya S__t” rapper went to Howard University — also an HBCU — to double major in sports medicine and chemistry. After graduating, she’d go on to earn a master’s degree in global medicine, also from USC.
Ice Cube
Some of you may better recognise Ice Cube through his role as Nick Persons in the hilarious, yet chaotic “Are We There Yet?” series, but he’d gotten his true career start as a rapper. He’d taken to writing lyrics as a teenager, and formed his first rap group, called “C.I.A. (Cru’ in Action!).”
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Cube graduated from William Howard Taft High School in 1987, and went on to pursue a one-year diploma in architectural drafting at the Phoenix Institute of Technology in Arizona. Obviously, his music and acting career would eventually take off, but he’d always kept architecture in his back pocket just in case show business didn’t work out.
