From Destiny’s Child to the college classroom: Beyonce’s dad co-teaches African American music history course

So, when students in one of Pepperdine University’s newest courses started their semester, they were in for a surprise when there was not one professor—but two.

The surprise co-instructor turned out to be an esteemed music executive, entrepreneur, and educator. And also Beyonce’s father.

Mathew Knowles is teaching a course this Spring semester titled “African American Aesthetic Culture From Spirituals to Hip Hop,” alongside Joi Carr, Pepperdine English and film professor.

Knowles, known for his role in propelling Destiny’s Child and Beyonce to musical success, has sold more than 500 million records globally. But, to students, he’s been Professor Knowles for 22 years.

“I have a fundamental belief that knowledge is power,” he tells Fortune.

And this conviction is part of the reason why he believes it is critical to educate and motivate young people. “Most people I know, they are successful because they have a tremendous amount of knowledge in the area that they’re working in and are contributing,” he adds.

The goal of the course is to explore the aesthetic musical contributions of African Americans in the U.S.—mixed with socio-historical context, Carr says. The course starts by looking at slavery and ventures all the way up to modern day hip-hop.

“We learn about resilience, we learn about hope, faith, the deep complexity of the human condition—by looking at one particular group of people. And I think it’s important for us to do that, especially in the United States,” Carr tells Fortune. 

“Most people don’t know the contributions that the slaves made to all the genres of music we know today,” Knowles adds. “And that’s what this course is all about.”

From slavery to hip-hop

Teaching history correctly is something Knowles is passionate about and part of what led him to join Carr in co-leading the course.

He says that many young people today don’t know a lot about history, including their own family’s history. And when it comes to slavery in particular, there are a lot of misconceptions.

“There’s a tremendous false narrative there,” he says. “We just want to educate, and the knowledge is so important that we understand the pitfalls of history, and how our young people can learn from that.”

The battle against history, particularly when it comes to race, has especially been thrown into the national spotlight recently as states like Florida attempt to crackdown on what they view as ‘woke’ education. In 2023, the state notably rejected College Board’s AP African American Studies course, saying it was “historically inaccurate,” which prompted the company to revise the curriculum.

And in 2021, the University of North Carolina denied tenure to journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, which she expected was largely because of her involvement in the 1619 Project—a New York Times Magazine project focused on the country’s relationship with slavery and history.

“There’s history. And there’s his story. And often, we’re listening to his story instead of history,” Knowles says.

A true professor of the practice

Beyond the musical successes of his kids, Knowles has worked with many other top names in music including Earth Wind & Fire and Chaka Khan. Overall, he has served as an executive producer for over 100 award-winning, platinum and gold albums.

Additionally, Knowles also has been a force in the boardroom, having worked as a leader at top companies like Xerox and Johnson & Johnson. He’s also taught and spoken at countless universities, including his alma mater Fisk University. But maybe best of all, he has humility. 

“The wonderful thing about Dr. Knowles is he’s deep, he’s authentic,” Carr says. “I feel his humanity.”

The students in the course, Carr adds, are beyond thrilled to be able to learn from Knowles—and have to try to stay focused on the course materials, especially on the day when he brought a Grammy to the classroom. “They’re pinching themselves.” 

Knowles describes his education style as “edutainment”—adding in videos and other elements to make the classroom experience engaging.

“I’ve always felt it’s a privilege for me to give back and to also share my knowledge, but equally important to share my failures,” he says. “Because I think I like to keep it real with students that there is going to be mistakes, there’ll be some failures, but those are opportunities to grow rather than quit.”