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More than two decades ago, Regis Inge showed a shy Kendrick Lamar the power of a thesaurus. Just two weeks ago, he watched the Grammy winner perform “a salute to Black history” at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

A 30-year educator in the Compton Unified School District, Inge is a 2015 California League of Middle Schools Educator of the Year and Honored’s 2021 Teacher of the Year. 

He also taught Lamar’s 7th-grade English class at Vanguard Learning Center, where he helped shape Lamar’s academic foundation, introducing him to poetry, nurturing his ability to think critically and developing his passion for language. Now, Lamar’s an award-winning, internationally renowned hip hop artist.

Back in the classroom, Inge used to talk to Lamar about the importance of using his platform to drive change – an idea that would resonate throughout the rapper’s career. Lamar’s journey from Compton to earning 22 Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize reflects values that deeply resonate with Inge’s classroom philosophy: hard work, creativity and ability to balance education and talent. 

Now, joining the list of achievements is Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show performance, which Inge says is “a salute to Black history and an opportunity for millions of people to witness Lamar’s dynamic artistry.” It drew a bigger audience than the game itself, is officially the most-watched halftime show performance of all time and the first show with a solo rapper to headline, according to the Apple Music.

Inge spoke with The 74’s Trinity Alicia about how Lamar’s academic foundation laid the groundwork for his storytelling success and how it continues to inspire his students in Compton.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

When it was announced that Kendrick Lamar would perform at the Super Bowl, what was your first emotion?   

I had a great feeling of joy to know someone who has honestly put in the work gets to be at the level he’s at and the stage he was going to be on. The city felt good. My students felt good. It was a circle of joy.   

Everyone was so happy for him because it was a chance for millions of people to see just how dynamic this person really is. It was a perfect example of how putting in hard work gets you great outcomes. It gave me a sense of pride to know he worked hard to be rewarded with this opportunity. He deserved to be there.  

How did you feel when you saw the halftime show?

My initial feeling was that it was a message he was trying to send to both America and to the hip hop culture in itself. There was a lot of thought put into each aspect of the show, and I’m proud of how it all came together because he did exactly what I know he’s supposed to be doing — teaching and sending messages to others. It was an awesome feeling for me as his former English teacher.   

What do you see as the major themes in his performance? Do you think there’s particular significance that those themes were performed at that particular Super Bowl in our current political climate?  

The major theme I saw in the Super Bowl performance was to wake up and understand what’s going on from an African-American perspective and a people of color perspective. The different stages, different colors, different movements, each song and each skit he did — even down to Samuel L. Jackson’s performance — it was so clear that everything was intentional.  

It was a teachable moment for those who wanted to look more deeply at what exactly Lamar was saying. And to me, it all made sense because I know he loves to debate — not so much a matter of right and wrong — but the meaning behind things and why it impacts people. So I feel he went into this wanting people to analyze and discuss the performance.  

Do you see parallels between your role as a Black male educator and what Lamar does with his art?   

Yes! I see one great parallel between what Lamar does and what I do — and it’s something I used to talk to him about — which is using your platform. I have a platform in the classroom and he has a platform on the stage. My platform is to give students wisdom, encouragement and understanding of what the future could look like for them. On stage, Lamar’s platform is to express what it feels like to live in an inner city, for those who have never been to an inner city, and to give people hope. A lot of his music deals with hope. It may not come in the way people expect, the music may have some colorful words every now and then, but at the end of the day, it’s about expression. I’m very happy he’s using his platform to share hope and not expressing negative aspects of hip hop that can sometimes come from the big stage.  

This Black History Month, are there any teachable moments that can be extracted from the halftime performance?  

The art of creativity. African-Americans were historically stripped of their creativity when brought over to this country, and here we are in the present where I feel the renaissance is coming back out and through hip hop — which is a creative outlet on its own — in music.  

When I saw all of the intentional choreography, I felt Lamar used the halftime show performance as a whole to salute Black history and I believe it was presented from the standpoint of how, from the beginning of our existence in this country, our poise and livelihood as Black-Americans flourishes when we are being creative.

Tell us about Lamar as a student. What unique qualities did he exhibit as a student, if any? Was there any indication early on that he had exceptional potential? 

One of the things I remember about him is that he was very quiet, which may be a little strange for others to hear considering this megastar can get on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people to perform song after song. But when I taught him in the seventh grade, I felt he was academically sound for his age and just needed someone to push him in the right direction. 

I spent a lot of time instilling in Lamar that vocabulary is super important. When my students go out and speak in public, I want them to be prepared to use language comparable to their age group. So for his assignments, I would circle words on his paper he could improve on and give him a thesaurus to identify synonyms for those words to deepen his vocabulary. I told him I wanted him to have a little shock level because there is an understanding that people from Compton are not going to have the best profile. But I remember telling him I wanted him to be able to show people through his speech that he is sharp, strong, an academic … and not someone who is only successful on YouTube and on social media. 

How do you help students connect to their creativity and writing with activism and social justice? How do you think this shaped Lamar as the artist we know today?   

Connection with students is extremely important to me as an educator. I believe in this connection because it helps me understand how my students operate and I’m able to have a plan on how to individually impact each one of their lives both in and out of the classroom.  

It’s also very important for me to understand culture. I need to know what’s going on at home and their environments because I am aware I can’t teach everyone the same. When students believe in you just like you believe in them, you create a family dynamic in the classroom. I have always been a family-oriented teacher and once I have a student in my class, they are family forever. 

In that same dynamic with Lamar, he understands that people are going through things and wants to create music that makes people dance, but also invites listeners to think about their surroundings and to remind them there is a light out of the struggle if they work hard.

In your classroom, how do you encourage students to imagine, create and push boundaries in their own work? How do you believe Lamar’s schooling and upbringing in Compton translate into his character and art in the current political climate?  

One thing I do in my class when we are doing any type of creative writing, I tell students I will take the boundaries off of their assignments. That means if an essay or poem they’re writing causes them to say a word that isn’t deemed appropriate for school — as long as they don’t say it too many times — then it’s okay because I want them to say what they truly feel. Poetry is all about the five senses, and that in particular is not something I need to teach, but I just like to remind them of this so that when they are writing, they can reflect on their experiences and emotions. What I don’t want them to do is mute themselves so that what they’re writing isn’t what they feel.

I encouraged Lamar in the same way. At that time, many of my students were coming to school very angry and if something causes trauma, frustration or an inertia of energy building up, students have to be able to get it out. Expanding the boundaries in class was the thing that helped. 

Lamar’s music, especially in his later albums, has been known to be deeply shaped by themes of social change, inequality, activism and criticism of politicians. Do you think you saw the beginnings of this in his early writings in classroom assignments or discussions? 

I didn’t really see writings of social consciousness from Lamar. When you’re in the seventh grade, you’re typically going off of what the teacher is assigning. But I remember his passion for writing was unique and different from his classmates. Some of his writings were a little more thought-provoking. What happens is when you’re focused on writing and passionate about your writing, as you get older and start to see more outside of your city, surroundings and community, you will start to see gaps. When you start to see gaps, when you start to feel frustration. When you start to feel frustration, you start to express it. 

With Lamar, he expressed his feelings in class through his writing and does the same thing as an artist. Now, we are here today with someone who is expressing a full emotional closet, from his joy to his insecurities to his trauma throughout his music.

Compton Unified has recently been ranked first in reading performance, surpassing pre-pandemic levels in both math and reading, according to the Ed Recovery Scorecard. Given Lamar’s rise from Compton to global recognition, how do you think his journey can inspire students in fostering the art of storytelling? 

One thing I feel that our students of today can be inspired by Lamar’s journey is to understand the art of working hard and being passionate. Even though students are doing well, they need to continue to work hard.

Sometimes social media waters down the art of working hard to achieve goals. Since I know Lamar personally, I have the ability to give students a bird’s eye view of what it takes on a day-to-day basis to earn Grammys and to be the first hip hop artist to be given a Pulitzer Prize winner, which is no small feat. 

I give my students an understanding of how many hours it could take for Lamar and his team to make one song or the amount of songs he writes that fans will never get to hear on the radio. This is about a lifelong journey of trying to do your best in every aspect of your life. 

I use Lamar as a [symbol] of hope because he came from Compton. And while my students may not become a Kendrick Lamar, perform on stage or emerge into a world-renowned artist, I want them to understand what it takes to get to a level of success to be world-renowned in other industries and professions. 

What’s something that most of the world probably doesn’t know about Lamar?  

I’m most proud of the person Lamar is off stage. I love the man he’s become and the person he is striving to be.

When I taught him, he enjoyed being around his friends and sat next to his cousin in my class. Now, I can see the same regard for relationships in his life. He likes to be present with family. He doesn’t mind being vulnerable with himself and others he trusts in order to share about the insecurities he’s working on. It’s why I feel his music is very genuine … it’s debatable, you can talk about it and you can teach it. There are so many emotions that can be translated from his music. 

I don’t know how I would feel if I taught an artist and the nature of music was very negative and went against everything I believed as a person. But I thank God I get the privilege of being associated with someone who is out here, making an impact, making music that gives people hope and encourages them.  

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