An Ivy League student will be graduating with one of the highest accolades after submitting a 10-track rap album for his final thesis, the first to do so in the history of the university.

Obasi Shaw wrote the album, titled Liminal Minds in a year. It was awarded the second highest grade in the department - summa cum laude minus.

Each song is told from a different character’s perspective, a format inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s seminal 14th century piece, The Canterbury Tales, and focuses on black identity in America.

Viral video of student finishing essay in night club was itself an assignment

The20-year-old, originally from Stone Mountain, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta said he "never thought it would be accepted by Harvard".

Undergraduates at the university do not need to submit senior theses, but for those wishing to graduate with honours, it is a requirement.

Rather than write an essay, collection of poems or a piece of prose, Shaw decided to try something different.

It was Shaw’s mother who sparked the initial idea, after noticing her son write raps and perform them at open mic nights on campus.

Poetry's life of grime: Why young rappers are the natural successors to Tennyson Show all 4 1 /4 Poetry's life of grime: Why young rappers are the natural successors to Tennyson Poetry's life of grime: Why young rappers are the natural successors to Tennyson 186160.bin At we, Sean Bello, aka Halo, was the youngest performer of the evening. He also turned a lot of middle-aged poetry buffs into fans of grime SAM HOFMAN Poetry's life of grime: Why young rappers are the natural successors to Tennyson 186161.bin Daniel Sebuyange performs with his sister Benedit SAM HOFMAN Poetry's life of grime: Why young rappers are the natural successors to Tennyson 186162.bin Young Liverpudlian poet, Jaya Bhavnani (aka JMA), performed her poem about the world as a spice rack SAM HOFMAN Poetry's life of grime: Why young rappers are the natural successors to Tennyson 186163.bin Sixteen-year-old Benedit Sebuyange gave an electrifying performance with her brother, Daniel, and reduced the audience to a quiver SAM HOFMAN

Changing perceptions of rap, pioneered by artists like Kendrick Lamar, have catapulted the genre into literary acclaim.

The rapper’s album To Pimp A Butterfly, as well as Nas’ Illmatic were both added to the Harvard Library in acknowledgement of their cultural significance.

In Shaw’s first track, Declaration of Independence, he writes: "Behold, what we hold is three-fold—Body and spirit to be thrones for free souls. Self is the evidence, please close the freak shows, And depose the evils, our peoples are equals".

Shaw also uses the writings of James Balwdin to talk about slavery and police violence.

Harvard English lecturer and Shaw’s thesis adviser Josh Bell, was highly impressed with his student’s creation, praising the album for its fluidity – both as an academic piece and an artistic creation.