Knowledge has long been Eric’s power source and way of accelerating progress in his own life. After he was pumped full of confidence by his beloved professors at Howard University, Eric returned to Nashville to do the same for others. His own teaching style, which he began developing in his first position at Tennessee State University, goes hand-in-hand with compassionate leadership. In 2017, Eric was recruited by Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, a top-five music business school in the country.

In his role as an Assistant Professor at Belmont, Eric has fine-tuned his educational focus: to provide young minds with scholarly knowledge in hopes of bringing about bigger societal changes. In the unique courses he has created for Belmont, his goal is to give students a deeper respect for hip-hop and R&B music, a stronger understanding of African American culture and history, and a realistic perspective on how to make it in the modern music industry. As black culture is increasingly consumed by mainstream audiences, Eric’s hope is that by teaching students about its origins they will able to accurately, and affectionately, promote it one day.

Most recently Eric, outdid his innovative reputation with a course called “Jay-Z and the Business of Hip-Hop.” The class, a response to the student body’s request for more diverse music business courses, acquired a waitlist less than an hour after opening its registration. It looks to the music mogul and his beyond-impressive progression from the projects to becoming a certified billionaire, as a model to teach African American entrepreneurship. Eric, who snarkily calls himself the “realist of all realists,” respectfully questions the staying power of Jay Z’s business model of funding auxiliary companies through a successful music career. The professor offers a pragmatic viewpoint that any modern musician must have multiple streams of income, and be willing to build and leverage their personal brand, to simply make ends meet.

To give context to his modern entrepreneurship principles, Eric also does a deep dive into the history of hip-hop music and culture, and the poverty and gentrification that birthed the genre. By teaching at Belmont, a school Eric equates to the Harvard of music business schools, he hopes to eliminate racist tendencies altogether and address issues accordingly, rather than reactively. “It’s both helpful and crucial to have more people at the table who understand and appreciate black culture so we can continue to guide the industry in a more positive, upward direction,” he explains. Belmont, where Eric also created a Live Music Emphasis that focuses on career paths in the live music field, is yet another testament to his devotion to his hometown. By offering a unique perspective, he hopes to be a pillar for tolerance, respect, and evolution. | CV |