Dream 2U15: MSW@USC Graduate Performs at 2U Annual Meeting

June 11, 2015 by Stephanie Echeveste

Jabari “Naledge” Evans performed his new single, “Push the Limit,” this morning in a surprise appearance at the 2U annual company meeting, Dream 2U15. Evans, who graduated from the MSW@USC in 2014, wrote the song to explore education’s impact on society and to celebrate his own experiences earning his MSW online at the University of Southern California School of Social Work.

A hip-hop artist, youth advocate and entrepreneur, Evans worked throughout his master’s studies to examine how hip-hop can help disadvantaged children develop self-esteem and pro-social behavior. Today he works with inner-city youth in his hometown of Chicago. He also founded The Brainiac Project, an organization that works with at-risk youth to empower them through the recording arts.

“Push the Limit” Lyrics
Written and performed by Jabari Evans

Chorus

I used to hang my head real low screaming life ain't fair

But if you live life here with no back row ain't no time to spare

So c'mon push the limit, push the limit and you will make it there

So c'mon push the limit, push the limit and throw caps in the air

Air air air air (x4)

 

Turn that frown on upside down

We only live once so we hustle for the now

I was told education was the key

The lock to the door if you’re trying to succeed

Tried to sow a seed and it grew into a tree

Graduation only evolution in the dynasty of me

We can never seem to turn down the volume of on our dreams

Instead blowing smoke get to picking up the steam

Row, row, row get you gently up the stream

Hard to find balance when you’re going on the beam

It’s no back row when you’re staring at the screen

No backseat, vehicle to any means

This is my testimony

Lifelong learning, I could teach a lesson on it

They say a good brain only needs a library

But degrees on the wall mean the options might vary

Otherwise it’s quite scary

 

Speech

See my name is Jabari Evans, otherwise known as Naledge

From the South Side of Chicago

Got a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania

Recently got a master’s degree from the University of Southern California,

Online at that

And um…Martin Luther King Jr. man he said…the function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically

Intelligence plus character that is the goal of true education

Education is the most powerful weapon in the world and it’s the one you must use to change it

 

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