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Paul Adey

Role

Paul Adey is a lecturer of Music Performance and Music Business, teaching Popular Music in Context, Contextual Studies, Popular Music History, Marketing and Branding for Industry Professionals and Creative Investigation.

Career overview

1999-Present: Recording artist:

Performing under the artist name of Cappo, Paul has practiced hip hop lyricism for over two decades. During this time, he has had the privilege of appearing at many of Europe’s premier live music venues, performing alongside artists such as Public Enemy, Skepta, and The Sleaford Mods. Throughout my career, I have released music on various record labels including Tru-Thoughts and Ninja Tune, and featured live on BBC Radio One (John Peel), BBC Radio 1 Xtra, and BBC Radio 6 numerous times.

2020-2023: Lecturer of Creative Writing at De Montfort University (level 6):

  • Taught the Writing Identity and Shaping Ideas and ‘"Writeful" Owner’ (Level 6) BA modules specialising in 'performed writing' and confidence building.
  • Designed the Writer's Salon (Level 4) module, covering dialogue, language, character, digital-born fiction/flash fiction, close reading, and sensory language.

2020-2023: Lecturer for English with Creative Writing, and Media Department at NTU (Level 5 and 6):

  • English with Creative Writing: Taught the 'Questioning the Canon' module, teaching literature from Shakespeare to James Baldwin, Chaucer to Zadie Smith, and engaging in various employability focused assessments including literary blog writing and podcast training.
  • Designed and delivered The Anthology module, developing and presenting various lectures including ‘Basic Elements of Poetic Style’, ‘Reading Deeply: Connection and Meaning in Poetry’, and ‘Poetry and Language of Resistance’.
  • Media and Communications: This taught module included topics such as DJ/remix culture, digital populism, activism and social movements, propaganda, public service broadcasting, and various aspects of journalism.

2019-2023: Programme Leader for WRAP (NTU)

Freelance WRAP (Writing and Reading As Pleasure) Lead Programme Writer at NTU English Department, delivering bespoke Creative Writing workshops, mentoring sessions, book clubs, public performances and attending presentations.

2017-2023: NTU Short Course Tutor/Creative Writing Tutor.

Freelance short course tutor and creative writing tutor for NTU, specialising in hip hop lyricism, poetry and creative writing.

Research areas

  • Delivering paper at ‘Depression in Popular Music International Conference’. Location: Paris, France. Sorbonne University, Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology & Public Health (iPLesp) (26-27/06/25). Title of Paper: ‘“There’s a War Going on Inside, No Man is Safe From”: Representations of Depression through Autosonic and Allosonic Quotation in a Critically Acclaimed Rap Album: An Artist’s Perspective’.

  • Designing ‘The Global Impact of Hip Hop’ 12-week optional module for NSAD CoLab: Currently designing an interdisciplinary module that will be eligible for teaching across various university departments (music, media, English, and Creative Writing), and attract attention from a wide array of learners, often from diverse demographic backgrounds.

  • Presented practice-based conference paper, ‘Meaning Through Rhythmic Displacement in Hip Hop Lyricism’ at the 19th Rhythm Perception and Production Workshop (RPPW 19), held at NTU (20/06/23).
  • Presented and performed ‘Intertextuality in Rap Lyricism: The ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of Literary Tools for Hip Hop Lyricists’ paper to the NTU Arts and Humanities Department’s Research Seminar Series (11/12/21).

External activity

Currently collaborating with NTU Bonington gallery regarding installation of Capstone Trilogy Project (Creative-critical PhD Music trilogy).

Currently releasing the Capstone Trilogy Project (Plague Records)

Currently writing articles based on my specialisms for The Conversation UK.

Sponsors and collaborators

Ninja Tune

Tru-thoughts Records

Noel & Poland Records

Plague Records

Boot Records

New Perspectives (Angharad Jones)

NTU WRAP Programme

Midlands 4 Cities

Bonington Gallery

NTU Culture Department

Publications

iRep Publication:

  • ‘Nothing New Under the Sun’: Literary Allusion, Intertextuality, and Lyrical Performative Stylistic Allusion in Hip Hop Lyricism (PhD thesis: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/49298/1/Paul%20Adey%202023.pdf): A creative-critical PhD, my thesis uses rap lyrics/spoken word to articulate aspects of mental health, addiction, vulnerability, and paternity in the contemporary working-class male.
    • Chapter One: ‘‘Nothing New Under the Sun’:Intertextuality in the Lyrics of Nas’.
    • Chapter Two: ‘Intertextuality and the Articulation of Loss and Trauma in the Lyrics of Kendrick Lamar’. Chapter Three: ‘Lyrical Performative Stylistic Allusion in the Lyrics of Kendrick Lamar, J.I.D., Kemba, Saba, Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE, and Navy Blue’.
    • Chapter Four: ‘The Annotated Lyrics of S.T.A.R.V.E., Houses, and Uzumaki’.

Recent Music Publications (Releases):

Previous Music Publications (Releases):

  • The Oblique Strategies (Cappo and Mr Brown), Raw Pastiche (WeStayTrue, 2020).
  • Cappo and Cyrus Malachi, Postmodernism (Village Live, 2018).
  • Cappo, Dramatic Change of Fortune (YNR, 2016).
  • Cappo and DJ Nappa, Rebel Base (King Underground, 2015).

Previous Literary publications:

  • ‘M6’, Restless Minds: An Anthology of New Literature (Nottingham, Laundrette Books, 2014).
  • ‘Black Gold’, Black Balloon Anthology (Nottingham, Laundrette Books, 2015).
  • ‘Awe’, Bystander Anthology (Nottingham, Laundrette Books, 2017).
  • ‘Foreword’, ‘Strongbow’, And What Do They Call You?: An Anthology of New Writing (Nottingham, Laundrette Books, 2019).
  • ‘Writeful Owner’, ‘Ghost’, ‘(Play)’, Snare Magazine (Nottingham, 2022).

Course(s) I teach on