Rahman Jamaal is an award-winning writer with a passion for learning that yields exceptional opportunities to impact individuals on a professional and personal level. Before graduating with honors on full scholarship from the University of Southern California with 3 degrees in Cinema-Television, Music Industry, and Communications in the Entertainment Industry, he made international impact as the breakout star of the record-setting 2003 Sundance Film Festival feature "THE BEAT" directed by Brandon Sonnier. His experience with the film inspired him to return to his hometown and use his creative gifts to establish new teaching methods in Redwood City, CA, fueled by his passion for music, filmmaking, community engagement, and social justice.
After pioneering California's first VAPA standards-approved curriculum for Rap & Emceeing in 2003 at Bay Area nonprofits and charter schools, he launched Rap Force Academy in 2012, an original curriculum merging music theory and ELA for students of all ages and learning levels (SPED, pre-K-20) and backgrounds, including Title 1 administrators and justice-impacted youth.
He credits his expertise to Hip Hop Congress as a network that empowers artists to "take the stage less traveled" and develop personalized approaches to systems change that can operate outside of industry expectations. His latest venture is a dojo training facility named Afro Bushido Academy, SPC which engineers AI (Afro-Indigenous) and Eastern approaches to self-defense that extend into creative expression, competitive action, mental health and social wellness–-connected to a STEAM model.
