Paul Willis brings hip hop to education, and education to hip hop

The Berkeley Beacon

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Paul Willis brings hip hop to education, and education to hip hop

Jamaica Plain native Paul Willis was told to pick one career path—a hip hop artist or an educator: “‘Get your degree, but keep the two worlds separate,’” as he recalls. Disregarding this advice, Willis has spent his 20-year career merging his interests in hip hop and working with youth. As an educator, he’s currently the director of programming at Beat the Odds, a non-profit that focuses on music and arts education for students from low-income b…