The Rap Guide to Evolution, an award-winning, hip-hop inspired tour of modern evolutionary biology comes to the Pyramid Scheme on August 15.
Center for Inquiry-Michigan presents two live performances (the other is in Farmington Hills on August 14) of Baba Brinkman’s original peer-reviewed rap show that combines the skills and charisma of a live MC with the precision of a scientist to explore the surprising links between Darwin’s theory and today’s hip-hop culture.
“Musicians Compete for space in our iTunes playlists, peacocks display with feathers while rappers display with bling, and a white boy from Canada discovers the scientific appeal of Afrocentrism,” says Brinkman.
Brinkman is a scholar with a Masters in Medieval and Renaissance English Literature. His thesis drew parallels between the worlds of hip-hop music and literary poetry. After graduating in 2003, Brinkman began his career as a rap troubadour.
‘Canadian hip-hop with an intellectual bent, nothing but sexy beats and sumptuous brain food.’
~ New York Times
The Rap Guide to Evolution won the Scotsman Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Brinkman was recently was awarded the National Center for Science Education’s “Friend of Darwin” Award for his efforts to improve the public understanding of evolution.
But, as The Scotsman’s review explains, “Where most people would be happy just to convey the gist of Darwin’s theories in rhyme, Brinkman adds a twist: this isn’t just a show about evolution delivered in a hip-hop style, it’s also a show about the evolution of hip-hop…Evolution, it transpires, has much to teach us about hip-hop, and vice versa: bling is a fitness display; the process of natural selection operates on iPod playlists and teenage pregnancy in the ghettos can be read as an evolutionary strategy designed to maximize the chances of genetic material being passed on in a high-risk environment.”
See The Rap Guide To Evolution with Baba Brinkman at the Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids on Monday, August 15th and Farmington Hills on August 14th. Tickets are $12 in Advance, $15 at the door. Details & Tickets: www.cfimichigan.org.
About the artist
Baba Brinkman is a Canadian rap artist, award-winning playwright, and former tree-planter who has personally planted more than one million trees. He is best known for his award-winning hip-hop theatre shows, including The Rap Guide to Evolution and The Canterbury Tales Remixed, which interpret the works of Darwin and Chaucer for a modern audience.
When he is not on tour, Brinkman resides in New York city.
