Scholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public.

Originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology, scholasticism is not a philosophy or theology in itself but a tool and method for learning which places emphasis on dialectical reasoning. The primary purpose of scholasticism is to find the answer to a question or to resolve a contradiction. It is most well known for its application in medieval theology, but was eventually applied to classical philosophy and many other fields of study.

The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. The question of the nature, and indeed the possibility, of sound historical method is raised in the philosophy of history, as a question of epistemology. History guidelines commonly used by historians in their work, require external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis.

Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2011.He has sold approximately 50 million albums worldwide, while receiving fourteen Grammy Awards for his musical work, and numerous additional nominations. He is consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers of all-time. He was ranked #1 by MTV in their list of The Greatest MCs of All-Time in 2006. Two of his albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996) and The Blueprint (2001) are considered landmarks in the genre with both of them being ranked in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Blender included the former on their 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die.

Jay-Z co-owns the 40/40 Club, is part-owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and is also the creator of the line Rocawear. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with eleven. Jay-Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, one as lead artist.

Clifford Smith (born April 1, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man & Redman. He won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" with Mary J. Blige. In 2007, the writers of About.com placed him on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007).

Method Man appeared in the motion pictures Belly, How High, Garden State as well as a minor role in The Wackness. More recently, he appeared as a crewman in George Lucas' film Red Tails. On television, he and hip-hop collaborator Redman co-starred on the short-lived Fox sitcom Method & Red, and he had a recurring role on HBO's Oz as Tug Daniels and as Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff on the acclaimed HBO drama series The Wire.

Born in Staten Island, New York, on April 1 , 1971, Clifford Smith divided his childhood between his father's Long Island residence and his mother's home in the Park Hill section of Staten Island aka Killa Hill. He has two sisters, Terri and Missy.

DJ Babu (born Melvin Babu) is a Filipino-American DJ. One-third of the hip hop group Dilated Peoples (alongside Rakaa Iriscience and Evidence), Babu is also a member of the Beat Junkies DJ crew, and together with rapper Defari forms the duo the Likwit Junkies. DJ Babu, Evidence and Pharoahe Monch also feature in the song H! Vltg3 on Linkin Park's Reanimation album. He lived in Oxnard, California for 1 year, and later moved to the neighbor city of Camarillo.

Babu has won multiple competition titles Including the Vestax World Championships and multiple ITF titles. As a revered battle DJ he has appeared in and hosted numerable videos. Babu is famous for redefining the art of Beat juggling during the 1997 ITF/Beat juggling category competition, when he first performed his "Blind Alley" routine. Under the name "The Turntablist", produced perhaps the genre's most popular battle record, 1996's Super Duck Breaks, which sold over 10,000 copies.

DJ Babu has also featured on numerous acts alongside groups such as Jurassic 5, Swollen Members and The Visionaries. Individually Babu has featured in many other groups.