The Darwin Rap

I was catching up on my podcasts of the Naked Scientists this morning on my run and listened to an episode they recorded at the Darwin Festival at Cambridge. This program features the Rap Guide to Evolution as performed by hip hop artist Baba Brinkman. He jokes that it is the word's first peer reviewed hip hop piece on evolution as it was reviewed by Dr. Mark Pallen to be sure he got the science right.

I am not an evolutionary biologist but the stuff that I do know, he gets right. He covers not just the science but also raps about how he deals with his "Calvinist fundamentalist family". Brinkman tackles a complex subject in an entertaining manner with a few laughs thrown in a along the way.

I noticed that it sounded like a small crowd at the show, a fact confirmed by the Science Magazine review of the show. They have a few videos of the show here as well.

You can listen to the Naked Scientists show online or download the mp3. For those into literature, you can check out one of his previous projects, the Rap Canterbury Tales, which is available on CD. I am checking out his tour schedule...I see he will be at Burning Man (I am already busy that weekend) but hope he tours near here with it sometime so I can catch it live.

For now, we will have to do with a couple of songs on his Youtube channel. I will leave you with his piece, "Natural Selection" filmed at Cambridge.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.