AUTHOR=Harrison C. Keith , Saunders Reggie , Griffin Whitney , Bukstein Scott , Porter Jeffrey , Martin Brandon 

TITLE=Rethinking the MBA through Hip Hop innovation and Hip Hop innovators: Fat Joe and DJ Khaled pair with two sport × entertainment faculty

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2024.1226233

DOI=10.3389/fspor.2024.1226233

ISSN=2624-9367

ABSTRACT=Theory without relevance for practice in a professional graduate degree has been critiqued by some scholars as a deficit approach when preparing MBA students for the workforce. Scholars and practitioners alike call for more pedagogy in the curriculum with a focus on innovation, creativity, and involvement of industry practitioners. This paper serves as a case study of a moment in time on Monday, June 14, 2021, when Sutton's (2007) concept of "pracademics" was realized between two artists and two faculty. Following the transcription of the dialogue between two guest speakers from the Hip Hop world (i.e., Fat Joe and DJ Khaled) and two faculty from the sport management MBA program, the paper analyzes the deeper meaning of their intellectual presence with their expertise in the business of culture (i.e., Hip Hop). The broader umbrella of pedagogy and application has implications for other academic disciplines to embrace this concept of pairing academics and industry practitioners.