Marcus R. Grant is a professional drummer, percussionist, musicologist, and educator from West Chester, Pennsylvania. He is currently a PhD candidate in Musicology & Ethnomusicology at Brown University, with a secondary certificate in the Department of Africana Studies. Grant holds a B.M. in jazz performance from Temple University, an M.M. in jazz performance, an M.M. in musicology from the University of Miami (FL), and an M.A. in musicology and ethnomusicology from Brown University. As a scholar, he focuses his research on 2020 Black Lives Matter protest music and hip-hop, and the intersections of musical protest and digital culture. Other research interests include jazz studies and music of the Black church.

As a musician, Grant has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, NPR’s Tiny Desk, the Newport Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and many other national and international stages. He has performed with Victor Goines, Nicole Henry, Derrick Hodge, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Bilal, De La Soul, and he is a member of the Robert Glasper Black Radio Orchestra and the Derrick Hodge Color of Noize Orchestra.

Grant is currently completing his doctoral studies at Brown University and working as an adjunct professor at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, and Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts.