Rap & MC (Integrated Masters)

ACM’s first of a kind Rap & MC course explores the core aspects of Rap & MC music and culture, covering topics such as the history & evolution of both UK & U.S Hip Hop including all its subsequent sub genres such as Grime, Drill, UK Garage & Drum & Bass. Students will explore the specifics of each subgenre, submerging themselves into the sound, flow and narratives of each particular type of Rap & MC music.

Learning about Rap music & its Culture will enable students to evolve their approach to writing and path to their profession with the proper mentality and skills. Students will learn how to adapt to any rap style or genre through collaboration and experimentation, thus ensuring a more robust and well rounded skill set as a practitioning MC & writer. The course starts by laying a strong foundation in the fundamentals of Rap through the honing and development of core skills: ‘Content’ (what is being said), ‘flow’ (rhythm, rhyme) and ‘delivery’ (cadence, tone). Students will study a variety of skill sets as they go through the course through our annually updated skills units, which include professional masterclasses, writing & recording sessions, working with a live band, stagecraft and performance.

Our tripartite commitment to our students’ academic, professional and personal development is recognised in a brand new curriculum, specifically purposed to bridge the gap between what industry needs and what education has traditionally provided. ACM's pioneering Creative Industries Future programme framework treats our students as individuals. We build bespoke programmes of study for each of them, based on their own history and aspirations for the future, with over 100 different modules and numerous unique module combinations to choose from. On UCAS, we actively publish a certain number of career destinations that are commonly stated as aspirational by our applicants and desirable by our industry, advising you as to which module combinations you might want to consider in pursuit of those particular career goals. If you’d like to pursue something different, however, it’s also completely possible to build and personalise your own programmes, as you see fit. Of course, we also understand that not everybody has a specific career destination yet, and so for those of you who haven’t quite made up your mind, the first thing we ask you to think about and choose from is one of six broad study routes. These study routes are described as Musician, Creative Artist, Producer, Management & Entrepreneurship, Games Development and Live Production and Sound. Choosing a route will dictate a selection of route-specific modules that you will study. Further into your course, in addition to the route-specific modules, you can then select from a suite of zero-credit elective modules and credit-bearing elective modules as you start to formulate your ambitions for the future more clearly. We also believe that there are some things that every Creative professional needs to learn about and understand. Things such as copyright, who the main players in Industry are and how the various sectors of artist management, records, publishing and live are changing in an ever more digital world. That’s why our Creative Industries Futures qualification also includes a small number of mandatory modules that every student must engage with. Whether students choose to focus on music performance, songwriting, production, live sound and production, games development and business management, we pride ourselves on delivering an immersive creative industry education in which we match the highest quality of teaching and learning with an unparalleled student experience. With its students representing every corner of the field they one day hope to work in, ACM is a microcosm of the creative industry in which they really can work together and learn by doing. We’re interested in our students’ careers as much as their studies, dedicating an entire department to supporting their professional development and helping them take their first steps into the creative industry. ACM’s Industry Link team ,through regular networking events, work placements, performance and audition opportunities, students are able to showcase their knowledge and talent to music industry executives (from labels, publishers, management companies and more) and gain first-hand feedback from those in the know. The department connects students to a network of top-tier industry partners in the music and wider creative industries, and also offers regular tutorial and masterclass opportunities with visiting guests. ACM students also enjoy an access all areas pass to Europe’s largest recording complex, in which the likes of Queen, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Will.i.am and countless others have recorded, and some still record, today. This joining of educational and professional environments, where over 50% of the UK Music chart is recorded, mixed or mastered in an average year, has created a unique end-to-end proposition for those wanting to pursue a career in the music and wider creative industries, not to be found anywhere else in music education.