Bun B has delivered the commencement speech for Mickey Factz‘s groundbreaking Hip Hop Academy and its first graduating class.
On Thursday (April 6), the UGK legend spoke to students of Pendulum Ink Academy about the school’s commitment to lyricism and Hip Hop music. As he commended the students for their efforts, he also encouraged them to keep going in their endeavors.
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Bun also took the opportunity to acknowledge what a tremendous achievement they had earned by graduating from the school. “In my 31 years, I have never seen something like what you guys have accomplished in the last eight months, and the reason I haven’t seen it because it didn’t exist,” he began.
“I have to say, I don’t think academy does it justice. Because I feel like this is also a wellness center. Because we deal in a space where you’re not allowed to express your vulnerability until today. I am honored to be the commencement speaker for the first Hip Hop and Lyric Academy in the world that not only address the craft, but has a care and concern for the creators.”
In an interview with Billboard last year, Mickey explained the reason for founding Pendulum Ink. According to him, he was interested in switching from Hip Hop to a more academic aspect of the culture. After researching how to teach without a degree, he concluded it was nearly impossible without the credentials.
The rapper attended NYU and was a paralegal at a law firm before he dropped out of school in 2007 and devoted himself exclusively to rap. Even if Mickey graduated from NYU and became a lawyer, he said there weren’t a lot of schools offering Hip Hop courses in 2019.
“It was an epiphany moment,” he said. “I was like, ‘I kind of feel like this a dead-end job for me right now. I’m working album to album. This doesn’t make sense to me. What am I gonna do when it’s time to retire?’ I started thinking about retirement a lot. So I was like, ‘You know what? I need to retire into teaching.’”
While the pandemic was underway, Mickey focused on a possible partnership with MasterClass, but it failed to work. It was at that point that he decided to found his own school.
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In December 2021, Mickey held his first e-course with 10 participants, which led him to realize he could teach students as well as expand his dream. In an effort to bring his school to fruition, he reached out to a few of his peers, including battle rapper Chilla Jones.
The academy was established in 2022 and featured an eight-month curriculum, including Rap Theory, where students were taught cadence and rhyme. Courses have been taught by artists such as Method Man, Cory Gunz, Masta Ace, and more.
