The life and times of Nasir Jones, aka Nas, has been scrolled in the history of hip hop. The hip hop legend has penned some of the most influential and mind bending tracks the music industry has ever seen, but his influence on African American culture cannot be denied….and is being honored.

It’s rare our hip hop stars have the opportunity to smell the roses or feel the love while they are still alive, but that’s what Nas will be enjoying…and we are happy for the hip hop star.

Harvard University has decided to award Nas with their W.E.B. DuBois Medal Wednesday. This medal is the highest honor in the field of African and African American Studies. It is awarded to those who have made “contributions to African American culture and the life of the mind,” according to the W.E.B. Dubois Research Institute’s website at Harvard.

“Nas is more than an MC. He’s my favorite writer, and it’s to their credit that highbrow institutions like Harvard are already recognizing hip-hop luminaries like him while they’re still actively making remarkable music,” DigBoston news and features editor Chris Faraone, who penned liner notes for Columbia Records’ Nas: The Box Set, tells Boston magazine.

“Furthermore, if there’s one region outside of New York on which Nas has left an indelible stylistic mark, it’s New England, where traces of his unique brand of lyrical urban journalism can be heard in rappers ranging from Reks to Slaine,” Faraone says.

Other great and influential people are being honored with Harvard’s WEB DuBois Medal as well. The list includes Muhammad Ali (The G.O.A.T.), U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Marian Wright Edelman, founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund, Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, artist Carrie Mae Weems, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the first black woman to enroll at the University of Georgia.

Congratulations to all the medal award winners. Thank you all for your contribution, and may your life and blessings continue to motivate and inspire black people around the world to do and be more.

Read More: BostonMagazine.com