Founded in late 2019 by Drew Speckman while a junior at Cornell University, rapStudy is a first-of-its-kind EdTech startup that recreates popular songs, but with educational lyrics — so kids can enjoy learning the same way they enjoy listening to their favorite music. The company produces songs about all major academic topics across grades K-8, with each song based on a hit from a superstar like Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, or Ariana Grande that sounds as if the actual artist is the one singing and, in effect, teaching the students. Yet the learning experience goes far beyond just listening to catchy songs: the rapStudy platform also offers a suite of customizable study tools for students, and a bank of standards-aligned instructional resources for teachers.

Drew and school principal holding kids "cornell" jersey. — Drew , rapStudy founder with a school principal.

The idea for rapStudy was born when Drew — a world champion hockey player in a past life — heard the national anthem sung before a game and realized that everyone in the arena could sing along not because they inherently knew the words, but because the underlying music helped them remember the accompanying lyrics. In that moment, Drew understood why teachers would make one-off songs to help their students merely memorize one-off topics — like classroom jingles about the ABCs and periodic table.

But then Drew wondered: How cool would it be if there were a song for every topic…within every subject…for every grade level? Further: How cool would it be if there were an interactive platform with which students could more meaningfully engage and use to achieve true mastery of their class material? And most crucially: How cool would it be if the songs, instead of being cringy jingles, were made to sound like kids’ favorite artists and tunes from Spotify and the radio?

Drew crouched next to a student as he uses a laptop to demo rapStudy.

Within two months of matriculating at Cornell, Drew recruited a group of friends to help turn his back-of-a-napkin idea from nothing into something truly special. After ten months of bootstrapped development in between (and instead of) classes, the rapStudy team of student-engineers, -designers, and -musicians launched a pilot program across select schools in their hometown CT, NJ, and NY districts. Immediately, the reactions from rapStudy’s initial users made all the late nights, missed assignments, and overdrawn debit cards worthwhile: students, teachers, administrators, and parents loved it. As one parent enthusiastically proclaimed: “It’s like Schoolhouse Rock on steroids.”

Students seated at their desks using rapStudy on laptops.

Fast forward to today, and rapStudy has evolved from operating out of Drew’s apartment in Collegetown to getting its first office and recording studio in Beverly Hills. The startup is also raising its seed round; and counts an all-star group of record label executives, artists, music managers and lawyers, educators, influencers, tech entrepreneurs, and finance professionals as advisors and investors working to bring the rapStudy experience to every school in America.

While rapStudy is currently focused on revolutionizing primary and secondary education, its vision is far greater: rapStudy believes its songs will soon be the way a new McDonald's employee learns how to make a Big Mac, how an inmate earns his GED, and how a couple learns the language of the foreign country to which they are honeymooning.

“Our mission is to fundamentally transform the relationship that students have with the learning process — and we believe that popular music is the most natural and effective medium through which to do so. Kids everywhere listen to songs by Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, and Billie Eilish; now kids can learn through those songs, too. RapStudy exists to get kids excited about the future of their education.”- Drew Speckman, rapStudy Founder & CEO.

For more information about how to support the future rapStudy is working toward, please feel free to email Drew at: drew@rapstudy.com