Paul Willis

Paul Willis is a Boston-based Hip Hop Teaching Artist, author, and cultural worker whose practice centers leadership, liberation, and creative healing through Hip Hop culture. His career spans youth-focused arts, education, and social justice organizations, including helping launch City Year Sacramento, serving as Managing Director of the Boston Art & Music Soul Festival, developing curriculum for music education nonprofit RAWKSTARS, providing leadership training and executive coaching for the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program, and serving on the executive board of Sol Collective, a nonprofit rooted in art, culture, and activism. Grounded in community-based education and cultural stewardship, Paul’s work bridges Hip Hop with critical consciousness, personal development, and collective power. In 2021, he returned to his hometown of Boston and released a teacher’s edition of his album Wonderland, accompanied by a documentary film and curriculum designed to support educators and young people in using music as a tool for reflection, dialogue, and growth.

Paul’s most recent and defining body of work is Hip Hop Leadership – an album, book, and curriculum that articulates the “ABCs of rap” as a framework for self-determination, resilience, and purpose-driven leadership. Since July 2023, this cultural offering has received multiple grants and has been piloted with organizations and schools including Beat The Odds – Boston, Conservatory Lab Charter School, Neighborhood House Charter School, and Frugal Bookstore through author talks, workshops, and community-centered events. Hip Hop Leadership has reached audiences and readers in over thirteen states and has toured nationally, including stops in Providence, New York, Sacramento, Oakland, Vallejo, and Los Angeles. Whether in classrooms, on stages, or behind the scenes, Paul collaborates with youth, educators, and organizations aligned with his mission, vision, and values – advancing Hip Hop as a living practice for leadership, healing, and cultural integrity.