MVM NATION

🎬🏆 CONGRATULATIONS Ludwig Göransson — 3-Time Oscar Winner for Best Original Score!

A Swedish kid fell in love with blues through his father’s John Lee Ho**er record. That love brought him to USC Thornton School of Music in 2008. There he met Ryan Coogler — and instead of letting race or background divide them, Ludwig chose cooperation over separation.

That decision changed both of their lives forever. From Fruitvale Station to Black Panther to Sinners — every major Coogler film has carried Ludwig’s music.

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Started music as a child in Sweden — father was a musician; inspired by everything from classical to Metallica
USC Thornton School of Music — where he met Ryan Coogler & scored 30 student films in one year
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 IN HIS OWN WORDS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❝ The most important thing is to know music at a deep level across many genres. That knowledge is what gives you a voice no one else has. ❞ — Ludwig Göransson, Occidental College Music Production Program, December 5, 2017

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📖 MVM LESSON #17 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ That is not just a beautiful story — that is MVM Lesson #17 in real life. “Use your matriculation to build your own MVM Team, so when you graduate you can beat the machine.” Ludwig and Ryan did exactly that. They used their time at USC to find each other, build together, and graduate with a creative partnership already in place.

The lesson for every USC Film and Music major — and every student in the A.I. era — is this: learn the tools, but protect your voice, build your team, and create work the machine cannot replace.

Show up, collaborate boldly, and say yes to every opportunity. Student projects can become career-defining work.

🏆 Honor the MVM in YOUR life! 🛒 Shop MVM shirts → www.themvmnation.com

— Professor “A” | MVM NATION Most Valuable Major

🎭 MICHAEL B. JORDAN — MVM of Theater 🏆 Best Actor | Sinners | 98th Academy Awards

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🏫 Newark Arts High School — specialized performing arts school, Newark, NJ
🎬 Professional actor by age 12 — roles on The Sopranos & The Wire in high school
📖 Built his “degree” through 20+ years of relentless craft, discipline & reinvention
🎭 1st actor since Lee Marvin to win Best Actor playing dual roles in the same film
🌍 Named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (2020 & 2023)
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❝ Dream big, man. Be kind. Be honest. Pour into the universe and the universe will pour back into you. ❞

— Michael B. Jordan Backstage press room, 98th Academy Awards Dolby Theatre, Hollywood — March 15, 2026

💡 Bet on your gift. Find the environment that feeds your passion — then outwork everybody.

🎓 Honor the MVM in YOUR life! 👕 Shop MVM shirts → www.themvmnation.com

MVMofTheater Oscars2026 BlackExcellence OscarWinner NewarkArtsHigh ArtsEducation ActorLife StudentSuccess 98thAcademyAwards BlackHollywood Inspiration Sinners2025

He has crossed over his doubters who said he was too old to win. He has dunked on all the haters that told him to shut up and dribble! He has become more than an athlete.....more than an entrepreneur.... and more than an activist. He is KING JAMES....The Chosen One!
Today is the birthday of a King and an Honorary Most Valuable Major (MVM) of Social Work. The Honorable, Lebron Raymone James. Some say he is the GOAT, but he is DEFINITELY the GOAT when it comes to active players who balance winning championships, winning in business, and saving lives.....SIMULTANEOUSLY!
On the court, he does it all with the ball. Off the court, he does it all... as a son, husband, father, business owner, brand endorser, producer, education advocate, activist, philanthropist Ohioan, role-model and King.
Last year he led the league in assists, but also leads all active basketball players in assists to society. According to dosomething.org, in 2018, he became the 6th Most Charitable Athlete in the World After Donating $42 Million For Young Kids. The Lebron James Family Foundation raises and donates money for several charities. In 2020, he became the first athlete to be named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year three times, when he was one of five athlete activists to receive this year’s honor.
In 2011, Mr. James was researching the high school dropout rate of his hometown Akron and decided to create the “I PROMISE” initiative, focused on supporting the youth in his childhood community. He helped opened I Promise public school in July of 2018 in hopes of expanding the LeBron James Family Foundation’s contribution to educational resources in Akron. The school offers: 1)Free Tuition. 2)Free Uniforms 3)Free Bicycle & Helmet 4) Free Transportation. 5) Free Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks 6) Food Pantry for Families 7) GEDs and Job Placement Services for Parents 8) The inaugural group of ‘I Promise’ students will receive four years of free tuition to Kent State. We hope to work with his foundation and his SpringHill Company to help students.

On his birthday we honor Mr. Daniel Farris AKA D Smoke as a Most Valuable Major (MVM) of Music and Spanish (Honorary and Professional levels).

During his matriculation at UCLA, he founded WoodWorks Records, and proceeded to write and produce, “Never”, earning an ASCAP Award - Song of The Year. Thus, he applied MVM Lesson #8 “Be great before you graduate”. Choosing a path less taken as a native English speaker, Smoke leaned into his love of language and storytelling, ultimately earning a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature. Our paths crossed when he started working as a Spanish and music theory teacher at Inglewood High School.

In 2006, he started a songwriting group called WoodWorks with his brothers and his cousin Tiffany Gouché, who wrote songs for Ginuwine and The Pussycat Dolls, and is credited for co-writing “Never” by Jaheim. On May 9, 2006, he released his first album called Producer of the Year.

Smoke gained global notoriety in 2019 as champion and undisputed breakout star of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow. Smoke showcased himself as a raw lyricist, classically trained musician, and cultural activist with “something to say” - and nothing left to prove. Smoke released Inglewood High EP in late 2019, revealing the beauty and frustration of today’s Inglewood, through the eyes of his former students and his younger self. The EP peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Rap Charts in several countries.

In February 2020, Smoke released Black Habits. The 16-track project boasts features from music legends Snoop Dogg and Jill Scott, as well as appearances from Ari Lennox, his brothers SiR and Davion Farris, and mother, Jackie Gouché. As a Black, Bilingual Rapper, Musician, and CEO, Smoke utilizes his lived experiences to create music and opportunities that bridge the cultural gaps seemingly present between Black and Brown communities, and the have and have-nots.

His journey from growing up as an at-risk student in Inglewood, working as a Black bilingual educator in Inglewood, and now a musician/star working with legends makes him most valuable. He is an inspiration for students, artists, and educators world-wide.