Baba Brinkman | |
---|---|
Born | Dirk Murray Brinkman October 22, 1978 Riondel, British Columbia, Canada |
Other names | Baba Brinkman |
Family | Joyce Murray (mother) |
Musical career | |
Origin | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
Genres | Canadian hip hop |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2004–present |
Website | bababrinkman |
Dirk Murray Brinkman (born October 22, 1978) is a Canadian rapper and playwright best known for recordings and performances that combine hip hop music with literature, theatre, and science.
Born in the remote community of Riondel, British Columbia, in a log cabin built by his parents, [1] Brinkman is the eldest of three children of Joyce Murray, a Member of the Parliament of Canada, and Dirk Brinkman, Sr., who is notable for having founded the world's only private company responsible for planting more than one billion trees. [2] Dirk Sr gave Brinkman the honorific nickname "Baba" at birth, because of his son's contemplative, Buddha-like expression. [3] Brinkman's childhood was divided between Vancouver and the Kootenay region of British Columbia. [4]
Brinkman spent his early summers in remote tree planting camps, and began planting trees himself at the age of 15. [5] He worked for his parents' business, Brinkman & Associates Reforestation, for twelve seasons in British Columbia and Alberta, personally planting more than one million trees. [6] During this period he also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Simon Fraser University and a Master of Arts degree in comparative literature from the University of Victoria, Canada. He studied human evolution and primatology with the orangutan researcher Biruté Galdikas [7] [ non-primary source needed ] and wrote his thesis comparing modern Hip hop freestyle battling with The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. [8]
Brinkman first gained widespread media attention for his one-man show The Rap Canterbury Tales, devised as a means of re-telling Chaucer's iconic stories for a modern audience. [9] [10] The show premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2004, and the following year Brinkman was sponsored by Cambridge University to perform the show in British secondary schools. [11] The Rap Canterbury Tales was published as an illustrated paperback by Talon Books in 2006. [12]
Brinkman's 2010 follow-up show, Rapconteur, premiered at the Edinburgh Free Fringe and featured hip hop adaptations of Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Finnish Kalevala. [13] [14] [15]
In 2011, Brinkman premiered The Canterbury Tales Remixed at the Soho Playhouse in New York City. [16] The show combined material from Rapconteur with new adaptations of The Merchant's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, and The Wife of Bath's Tale and was released as a full-length album in 2012. [17]
Because of his interest in merging hip-hop and classic literature, Brinkman has referred to his style of rap as Lit Hop, which was also the title of his 2006 solo rap album. [18]
In 2008, Brinkman was commissioned to write a new rap show about evolution by Mark Pallen, microbiologist and author of The Rough Guide to Evolution. The result was The Rap Guide to Evolution, a hip hop homage to Charles Darwin which Brinkman first performed in Britain for the Darwin bicentennial in February 2009. [19] Because the lyrics were fact-checked for scientific accuracy, Pallen calls it "the first peer-reviewed rap". [1] Brinkman cites Richard Dawkins, David Sloan Wilson, Jared Diamond, Geoffrey Miller, and E. O. Wilson as his influences in writing the show.
The Rap Guide to Evolution premiered at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, winning a Fringe First Award from The Scotsman for best new theatre writing. [20] In 2010 the UK's largest biomedical charity, the Wellcome Trust, provided grant funding for Brinkman to make a series of educational music videos based on the show, as a resource for biology teachers. [21] The Rap Guide to Evolution completed a five-month Off-Broadway theatre run in November 2011, [22] for which Brinkman received a 2012 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance, losing to Irish actor Cillian Murphy. [23]
The Rap Guide to Evolution won the National Center for Science Education's 2013 Friend of Darwin Award. [24] and Brinkman has performed selections from his production on The Rachel Maddow Show [25] and at the Seattle Science Festival, sharing the stage with Jurassic Park palaeontologist Jack Horner and British physicist Stephen Hawking. [26]
In 2010 Brinkman produced a Rationalist Anthem called Off That, attacking various forms of pseudoscience. The song was inspired by the Jay Z track of the same name, which is featured on The Blueprint 3 album. The video for Brinkman's unauthorized remix was released as part of an online science music festival called Geek Pop [27] and was popular with atheist blogs. [28] [29]
Brinkman followed up his Darwin tribute with a sequel show specifically about evolutionary psychology, The Rap Guide to Human Nature, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010. [30] The album features peer review phone messages from David Buss, Olivia Judson, and David Sloan Wilson commenting on the science content in Brinkman's lyrics. [31] In 2012 Human Nature was adapted into a theatre production, Ingenious Nature, which ran off-Broadway from November 2012 through January 2013. [32]
In March 2012, Brinkman was announced as a songwriter-in-residence at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) and spent a month at the University of Tennessee Knoxville as a guest of the Institute, along with DJ and music producer Jamie Simmonds. [33] Brinkman later released "The Infomatic EP," a collection of hip-hop songs inspired by computational biology. [34]
Brinkman's next play, The Rap Guide to Religion, premiered at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, [35] before transferring to the Soho Playhouse for an off-Broadway run in October 2014. The production ran for seven months and was a Time Out New York [36] and New York Times Critics' Pick, as well as receiving a 2015 Drama Desk Award nomination in the category "Unique Theatrical Experience". [37] The show explores theories from the cognitive science of religion and promotes religious naturalism, prompting American Humanist Association magazine to refer to Brinkman as "atheism's best salesman". [38]
In 2015, Brinkman was commissioned by Arizona State University and Randolph M. Nesse to write and produce an album titled The Rap Guide to Medicine, which communicates themes from evolutionary medicine. Nesse said of the finished project: "This is amazing. I won't need to teach my course, I'll just have students listen to the album!" [39] The album includes songs about Mendelian disease, parasitology, somatic evolution in cancer, mismatch theory, and senescence. [40]
In 2014 and 2016, Brinkman attended the Science of Consciousness conference in Tucson, AZ, performing a Rap Up or daily rap summary of the conference talks on Neuroscience and Philosophy of Mind. [41] Computational neuroscientist Anil Seth saw Brinkman's performances and proposed they collaborate on a new show about the neuroscience of consciousness. [42] Brinkman premiered "Rap Guide to Consciousness" at the 2017 Brighton Fringe, Winnipeg Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe to critical acclaim. [43] [44] [45] The show explores several neurobiological theories of consciousness, including Global Workspace Theory, Integrated Information Theory, and predictive coding, as well as the Philosophical Zombie, Free Will, Materialism, and Memetics. [46]
Brinkman was commissioned by the WILD Foundation to produce The Rap Guide to Wilderness in 2014. The album was critically acclaimed and features songs about biodiversity, extinction, conservation, habitat loss and trophic cascade. [47] [48] [49] [50] [51]
In 2015 Brinkman's play Rap Guide to Climate Chaos premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe, [52] [53] [54] followed by performances at the COP21 United Nations Climate Change Conference. [55] "Climate Chaos" went on to play-off-Broadway for six months in 2016, and featured Michael E. Mann, Gavin Schmidt, Naomi Oreskes and Bill Nye as talkback speakers. [56] [57] Bill Nye also features on the album version of "Climate Chaos", rapping the chorus of the track "What's Beef", which remixes a Notorious B.I.G. song to discuss climate change denial. [58] Rap Guide to Climate Chaos summarizes the science, politics, and economics of climate change and advocates for a global carbon tax as part of the solution. [59]
In 2016, after the election of Donald Trump, Brinkman worked with Gary Yohe at Wesleyan University, a senior contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and co-recipient along with Al Gore of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, to produce a new song and video titled "Erosion", summarizing data from the National Climate Assessment on the U.S.-based physical impacts of climate change. [60] [61]
In 2021, Brinkman founded Event Rap, a custom rap agency featuring a roster of independent hip-hop artists who write and perform original works for live events, as well as producing new rap videos on commission. [62] [63] Clients of Brinkman's private company have included Facebook, Republic, MIT, Product Hunt, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), supporting the production of new custom songs and videos on a wide range of topics, from rap summaries of virtual meetings and PhD defenses, [64] [65] to educational and promotional custom rap content. [66] [67]
Brinkman credits his inspiration for Event Rap to the “Renaissance patronage model” and views the role of today's Event Rap artists as similar to ancient bards, griots, and occasional verse. The title track of his 2023 album Rapsode makes a similar argument, likening today’s rappers-for-hire to the rhapsode tradition of ancient Greece, where professional poets would stitch together myths, tales and jokes with improvisational skill to suit the present listening audience. [68] [69]
In addition to Brinkman himself, other notable members of the Event Rap artist roster include Abdominal, Kosha Dillz, and Mega Ran, as well as Freestyle Love Supreme regular Dizzy Senze and Brooklyn rapper Dex McBean, whose rap video about Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) was featured on the United Nations Environment Program’s “Decade on Restoration” initiative. [70] [71]
Teachers have also expressed concern about Brinkman's use of strong language and anti-religious sentiments in his educational performances and videos. [72]
Brinkman himself has been described as an "evangelical atheist" [73] and has blogged about his encounters with creationists, both in educational settings [74] and within his own family. [75] He also performed in support of the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers Rock Beyond Belief concert alongside Richard Dawkins at Fort Bragg, NC in 2012. [76]
Ingenious Nature was reviewed unfavorably, and Brinkman received criticism for "singling out women in the audience, pointing at them, and rapping about their ovulation cycles," among other things. [77]
The song "Tranquility Bank" from The Rap Guide to Wilderness received a hostile response from some environmentalists because of its assertion that urban living is better for the environment than back-to-the-land movements. [78]
Kurtis Walker, known professionally by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Walker is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major record label. "The Breaks", a single from his 1980 self-titled debut album, is the first certified gold record rap song. Throughout his career he has released 17 albums and is currently an ordained minister.
Trip hop is a musical genre that originated in the late 1980s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound, often incorporating elements of jazz, soul, funk, reggae, dub, R&B, and other genres, typically of electronic music, as well as sampling from movie soundtracks and other eclectic sources.
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, known professionally as Nas, is an American rapper and entrepreneur. Rooted in East Coast hip hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas began his musical career in 1989 under the moniker "Nasty Nas", and recorded demos under the wing of fellow East Coast rapper Large Professor. Nas made his recording debut on Professor's group, Main Source's 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque".
Artis Leon Ivey Jr., known by his stage name Coolio, was an American rapper. He was best known for his single "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which won a Grammy Award, and was credited for changing the course of hip hop by bringing it to a wider audience. Other singles included "Fantastic Voyage" (1994), "1, 2, 3, 4 " (1996), and "C U When U Get There" (1997). He released nine albums, the first three of which achieved mainstream success: It Takes a Thief (1994), Gangsta's Paradise (1995), and My Soul (1997). Coolio first achieved recognition as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle. Coolio sold 4.8 million albums in the U.S.
Richard Martin Lloyd Walters, better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence as part of Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs "The Show" and "La Di Da Di" are considered early hip hop classics. "La Di Da Di" is one of the most sampled songs in history.
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson, better known by his stage name Kool G Rap, is an American rapper. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time, and a pioneer of mafioso rap/street/hardcore content and multisyllabic rhyming. On his album The Giancana Story, he stated that the "G" in his name stands for "Giancana", but on other occasions he has stated that it stands for "Genius".
Arrested Development is an American hip hop group, that was formed in Atlanta in 1988. It was founded by Speech and Headliner as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the late 1980s. Baba Oje and frontman Speech met at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee when they were both students.
Underground hip-hop is an umbrella term for hip hop music that is outside the general commercial canon. It is typically associated with independent artists, signed to independent labels or no label at all. Underground hip hop is often characterized by socially conscious, positive, or anti-commercial lyrics. However, there is no unifying or universal theme – AllMusic suggests that it "has no sonic signifiers". "The Underground" also refers to the community of musicians, fans and others that support non-commercial, or independent music. Music scenes with strong ties to underground hip hop include alternative hip hop and conscious hip hop. Many artists who are considered "underground" today were not always so, and may have previously broken the Billboard charts.
Antonio Hardy, better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper, producer and actor who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs in hip hop. Rolling Stone ranked his song "Ain't No Half-Steppin'" number 25 on its list of The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time, calling him "a master wordsmith of rap's late-golden age and a huge influence on a generation of MCs".
Esham Attica Smith, known mononymously as Esham, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Emerging as one of the first ever hip hop artists from Detroit, Esham released his debut studio album, Boomin' Words from Hell, in 1989 at the age of 16. Since then, he has gone on to release 21 studio albums in total and is best known as a representative of the hip hop subgenre horrorcore. In 1992, he co-founded the horrorcore group Natas. He and his brother James Smith founded and ran the Detroit hip hop label Reel Life Productions.
Critical Beatdown is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Ultramagnetic MCs, released on October 4, 1988, by Next Plateau Records. The album was produced primarily by the group's rapper and producer Ced-Gee, who employed an E-mu SP-1200 sampler as the album's main instrument. Music journalists have noted the album for its innovative production, funk-based samples, self-assertive themes, and clever lyrical rhymes by Ced-Gee and rapper Kool Keith.
Natas is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan best known as representatives of horrorcore featuring the members Mastamind, T-N-T, and Esham. The group effectively disbanded after the death of T-N-T in 2014. However, Esham and Mastamind have since periodically continued to tour together under the Natas name.
Heather A. Berlin is an American neuroscientist and licensed clinical psychologist noted for her work in science communication and science outreach. Her research focuses on brain-behavior relationships affecting the prevention and treatment of impulsive and compulsive psychiatric disorders. She is also interested in the neural basis of consciousness, dynamic unconscious processes, and creativity. Berlin is host of the PBS Nova series Your Brain, the PBS series Science Goes to the Movies, the Discovery Channel series Superhuman Showdown, and StarTalk All-Stars with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
Raheem Jarbo, also known by his stage names Mega Ran and Random, is an American underground nerdcore rapper, chiptune DJ, author and record producer. In February 2015, he changed his stage name to Mega Ran, removing Random from any releases.
Eddie Collins, better known by his stage name Greydon Square, is an American rapper, producer and sound engineer from Compton, California. He is an Iraq War veteran, an outspoken atheist, and the owner/co-founder of Majestic Comics. He uses his creativity to encourage discussion of atheism, critical thinking and rational thought.
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted is the debut studio album by American rapper Ice Cube, released on May 18, 1990, by Priority Records. It was his first solo album, after an acrimonious split from his former group N.W.A. Primarily produced by Public Enemy's production team the Bomb Squad, the album was a critical and commercial success, and was certified platinum in the United States on June 23, 1990.
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. It was recorded from 1987 to 1988 in sessions at Chung King Studios, Greene St. Recording, and Sabella Studios in New York.
Lit hop is a hybrid art form that combines themes from traditional literature and storytelling with the music and poetics of hip-hop. The term is sometimes used to describe literature that is influenced by hip-hop music and culture, and sometimes used to describe highly literate or lyrically sophisticated hip-hop music. "Lit hop" is also used as a shorthand for any perceived thematic link between literature and hip-hop.
Adam David Rutherford is a British geneticist and science populariser. He was an audio-visual content editor for the journal Nature for a decade, and is a frequent contributor to the newspaper The Guardian. He formerly hosted the BBC Radio 4 programmes Inside Science and The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry; has produced several science documentaries; and has published books related to genetics and the origin of life.
Corey Isiah Christie, better known by his stage name Reks, is an American rapper. Reks emerged from Lawrence, Massachusetts' underground rap scene. His debut underground album, Along Came The Chosen, was released on Brick Records in 2001. Reks has released eight additional albums and has appeared on various albums and mixtapes.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)