New York-Based Rap Artist And Playwright Baba Brinkman Brings New Show To The Edinburgh Fringe

Culture is what unites us. Music, poetry, art, science, medicine, politics, faith, and values. Culture is also what divides us (see the previous list of examples). With the culture wars intensifying and norms changing faster than you can say "where's my tribe?", who better to guide us through what 'culture' actually is - how it evolves and who benefits - than a middle class, white, science rapper from Canada?

Okay, "whiteness" may not entirely be an asset in this context, but in the rap game it's not exactly a guarantee of privilege either. A child of progressive, environmentalist, feminist, multicultural, communal-living, immigrant parents, Baba Brinkman is no stranger to minority views. In Rap Guide to Culture, he takes a deep dive into the emerging science of social norms and finds answers in the surprisingly unifying perspective that "Culture is Biology".

Does that sound too sinister? Relax. Biology doesn't always have to mean "genes". Biology is also about changes in your brain (including the reactions you're having right now).

Trigger warnings, micro-aggressions, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Instagram celebrities, and reactionary Trump/Brexit nationalism - these are all cultural norms and trends that have taken hold in the past decade. Genes don't move that fast.

Hip-hopping his way through the natural selection of ideas, from mammalian sex differences to the history of "cultural appropriation", Baba sheds scientifically-peer-reviewed light on genes, memes, individuals, groups, societies, and how the whole planet hangs in the balance as subcultures compete for survival and the viral come-up.

Funny and thought-provoking, Rap Guide to Culture is a celebration of common humanity, a chance to laugh at the absurdity of human behaviour, and perhaps a way to reconcile some the deep divisions driving political and religious conflicts today.

Baba Brinkman is a rap artist, science communicator, and award-winning playwright based in New York, where he is Resident Artist at the historic Soho Playhouse, home of recent off-Broadway sensations Fleabag and Nanette. Baba is best known for his "Rap Guide" series, including guides to Evolution, Human Nature, Wilderness, Religion, Medicine, Climate Change, and Consciousness. Back by popular demand, you can catch the 'Best Of' series at Gilded Balloon from 15 - 26 August*. Additionally, he has pioneered the genre of "Lit-Hop" or literary hip-hop, with rap adaptations of Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Baba is a Scotsman Fringe First Award winner for Exceptional New Writing, and a two-time Drama Desk Award Nominee, for "Outstanding Solo Performance" and "Unique Theatrical Experience". He has performed live on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" and shared stages with science luminaries including Stephen Hawking and Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is also a winner of the National Center for Science Education's "Friend of Darwin Award" for his efforts to popularize evolutionary biology.

Baba Brinkman performs his 'Rap Guide to Culture' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 31st July - 26th August. For tickets and more information: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/baba-brinkman-s-rap-guide-to-culture

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