Music
Baba has independently recorded and released more than a dozen original hip-hop albums since his debut in 2004, executive producing and collaborating with a range of artist through his Lit Fuse Records imprint. His lyrics explore topics far outside the range of mainstream rap, including science, literature, environmentalism, technology, politics, psychology, and human behavior.
Bright Future is Baba Brinkman’s 12th full-length album, a collection of songs about science and society and a blueprint for improving the human condition through greater understanding of the natural world, medicine, and technology. Each of the ten songs was commissioned by a scientist or an organization with science at its core, for the purpose of communicating an important and complex idea to the general public, making it the world’s first fully-commissioned custom rap album.
Released May 2021
Purchase: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify
Music Videos
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Stirling Engine – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The humble Stirling Engine was invented in 1816 by Scottish Engineer Sir Robert Stirling and for almost 200 years it failed to find widespread commercial applications. Now, this "little engine that could" is having a renaissance, like a slept-on rapper with an improbable path to stardom.
From the 2021 album "Bright Future", available on vinyl, CD, and digital:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/bright-future
Made with support from Qnergy:
https://www.qnergy.com/
Learn more about Baba Brinkman and custom rap videos:
https://www.eventrap.com/
Learn more about Stirling Engines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine
Track Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Mr. Simmonds
Video by Anna C. Gilmore -
Cloud Feedback – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the album "Bright Future", out now:
https://bababrinkman.bandcamp.com/album/bright-future
https://linktr.ee/bababrinkman
The wide range of possible warming scenarios found in climate models is mostly due to cloud feedback effects, which both influence global temperature and also respond to it. We just need clouds to spill their secrets.
Further Reading:
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-low-end-climate-sensitivity-can-now-be-ruled-out
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/world-without-clouds-hardly-clear-climate-scientists-say
Track Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Chorus by Skillz FJ
Guitar and Additional Percussion by Skillz FJ
Keys by Simon Kendall
Scientific Consultation by Stefan Buehler, University of Hamburg
Caption Translations by:
German: Sabrina Harich / Stefan Buehler
Italian: Nico Cimini
Spanish: Yanmichel Morfa Avalos
Brazilian Portuguese: David Marcolino Nielsen
Korean: Doyeon Kim / Yechul Shin / Hanjun Kim
Chinese: Ge Cheng
Made with Support from
The German Research Foundation
aka The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Under Germany’s Excellence Strategy, EXC 2037
CLICCS: Climate, Climatic Change, and Society
Project Number: 390683824 -
Qubits – Baba Brinkman Music Video
Quantum computers can now perform certain kinds of tasks faster than the world's most powerful classical computers, and quantum processing power doubles with each new qubit (quantum bit) added to the system. How high can an exponential go?
Further Reading:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/biggest-flipping-challenge-quantum-computing
From the album "Bright Future", out now:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/bright-future
Track Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Additional Vocals by Jessie Davis
Video by Anna C. Gilmore
The song "Qubits" was written and produced on commission with support from the Google Quantum AI Lab and premiered at the Google Quantum Summer Symposium 2020, along with this freestyle set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YhjWhpq71Y
And this rap up performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AuT2dShMeA
Learn more about rap ups, custom raps, and freestyle sets:
https://www.eventrap.com/ -
Counterfactual – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the 2021 album "Bright Future", out now:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/bright-future
https://linktr.ee/bababrinkman
Counterfactual studies in science predict the outcomes of different kinds of interventions at the individual and public policy level. Counterfactual beliefs lead to the worst possible outcomes.
Chorus by Aaron Ross
Track Produced by DJ Plain View
Additional Production and Mix by Lin Gardiner
Clav and Additional Organ by Clef Seeley
Video by Rob Penczak
Scientific Consultation by Dr. Gary Yohe
Further Reading:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/counterfactual-experiments-are-crucial-but-easy-to-misunderstand/ -
Molten Salt – Lyric Video
From the album "Bright Future", out now:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/bright-future
https://linktr.ee/bababrinkman
Molten Salt Reactors are a potentially game-changing energy and heat-generating technology, significantly safer than current Light Water Reactor nuclear power, which itself is already way safer – both for human health and climate change – than fossil fuel-generated electricity.
Cheap, safe, unlimited energy, let's make it happen!
Further Reading:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/nuclear-technology-abandoned-decades-ago-might-give-us-safer-smaller-reactors
Further Reflection:
https://gotnuclear.net/
Made with support from Generation Atomic and the Thorium Energy Alliance.
https://www.generationatomic.org/ / https://thoriumenergyalliance.com/ -
Ballad of a Zombie – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the album "Bright Future", out now:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/bright-future
https://linktr.ee/bababrinkman
A zombie anthem exploring the evolutionary science of parasitism, from pathogens to social media.
Further Reading:
• https://www.popsci.com/zombies-mind-control-and-body-snatchers-natures-horrifying-parasites/
• https://www.businessinsider.com/zombies-in-nature-science-2019-5
• https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mattsimonauthor/zombies-are-real-and-nature-is-terrifying
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music Written, Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Mr. Simmonds
Additional Vocals by Aaron Ross
Animation by Anna C. Gilmore
Zombie Illustrations by Neil Smith
Parasite Illustrations by Noel Planet
Video Edited by Roberto De Jesus
Scientific Consultation by Athena Aktipis and Dr. Joe Alcock
Made with Support from the Zombie Apocalypse Medicine Alliance
http://www.zombiemed.org/
SEE FROM SPACE
Baba Brinkman’s latest musical odyssey into the beautiful and terrible findings of modern science: evolution, climate change, reason, and evidence. Rap songs for thinking people in an era of alternative facts (aka falsehoods). On the bright side, apes can see from space.
Released July 2019
Purchase: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon | Spotify
Music Videos
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Fahrenheit 45 – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the album "See From Space", download here:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/see-from-space
Inspired by Ray Bradbury's classic dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. Book-burning, social media, censorship, technology, propaganda & citizenship in the era of the 45th President.
Original song "Fahrenheit 45" commissioned by Future of Storytelling www.fost.org -
Feelings for Reasons – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The evolutionary origins of emotions and mental illness, contemplated in a time of grief and depression.
Inspired by the book "Good Reasons for Bad Feelings" by Randy Nesse. http://goodreasons.info'
Album "See From Space" available now:
Bandcamp: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/see-from-space
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/see-from-space/1472326163
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/See-Space-Baba-Brinkman/dp/B07V3DF34W -
Redemption (feat Jessie Davis) – Baba Brinkman Music Video
New album "See From Space" available now:
Bandcamp: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/see-from-space
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/see-from-space/1472326163
Become a Patreon supporter:
https://www.patreon.com/bababrinkman
Scientific Consultation by Dr. Gary Yohe and Dr. Michael E. Mann
Lyrics and Sources:
http://goo.gl/hFAwm5
Track Credits:
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Chorus by Jessie Davis
Video Directed by Baba Brinkman
Video Edited by Buck Bowen
Camera by Buck Bowen, Farbeon & Mimi Hayes
Music by Tom Caruana
Piano by Simon Kendall -
See From Space – Baba Brinkman Music Video
An alien rap song inspired by the book "The Ape that Understood the Universe" by Steve Stewart-Williams, now available from Cambridge University Press.
Learn more:
https://www.cambridge.org/apethatunderstood
New album "See From Space" available now:
Bandcamp: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/see-from-space
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/see-from-space/1472326163
Support my videos on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bababrinkman
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Chorus Vocals by Aaron Nazrul
Piano, Synth, and Additional Vocals by Simon Kendall
Video Directed by Baba Brinkman
Video Edited by Buck Bowen -
Confessions of a Skeptic – Baba Brinkman Music Video
New album "See From Space" available now:
Bandcamp: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/see-from-space
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/see-from-space/1472326163
Skepticism and the scientific method are not articles of faith, but we can profess our devotion to them with no less fervor. Confess it!
Support my videos on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bababrinkman
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Piano and Organ by Simon Kendall
Video Edited by Buck Bowen
Video Directed by Baba Brinkman
Made with support from the Skeptics Society and from patrons on Patreon. -
Destruction – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the album "See From Space" available now:
Bandcamp: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/see-from-space
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/see-from-space/1472326163
Lyrics and Sources:
https://goo.gl/qPW5BF
Song Credits:
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Video by Nicholas Castel
Scientific Consultation by Dr. Gary Yohe
Chorus Vocals by Aaron Nazrul
Guitar by John Ellis
Piano and Organ by Simon Kendall
Original Song “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire
THE RAP GUIDE TO CONSCIOUSNESS
“Peer-reviewed rap” exploration of the neuroscience of consciousness, hip-hop music at the intersection of beats, rhymes, and brain cells.
Released April 2018
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | Spotify
Baba’s brain consists of more than 80 billion neurons, none of which has any clue that he exists, and yet somehow they come together to produce a steady stream of ill rhymes, punchlines, and some of the most thought-provoking music the world has ever heard. Listen and find out how.
Music Videos
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Dylan – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The evolution of consciousness begins with the evolution of cognitive and behavioral capacities, each wired up on a "need-to-know" basis for some adaptive purpose. So what is it helpful for a newborn to know?
From the album "The Rap Guide to Consciousness"
Bandcamp: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-consciousness
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1282574809?ls=1&app=itunes
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rap-Guide-Consciousness-Baba-Brinkman/dp/B075LPDRX8
Music produced and mixed by Tom Caruana
Keys by Simon Kendall
Cuts by Mr. Simmonds
Video animation by Olivia Sebesky
Further reading:
• http://www.pnas.org/content/106/Supplement_1/10061.full
• www.ted.com/talks/alison_gopnik_what_do_babies_think
• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-do-babies-really-know/ -
Zombie – Baba Brinkman – Philosophy of Mind Rap
From the album "The Rap Guide to Consciousness"
Bandcamp: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-consciousness
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1282574809?ls=1&app=itunes
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rap-Guide-Consciousness-Baba-Brinkman/dp/B075LPDRX8
Music produced and mixed by Tom Caruana
Keys by Simon Kendall
Video animation by Olivia Sebesky
Further reading:
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie
• pp.kpnet.fi/seirioa/cdenn/unzombie.htm -
Mary – Baba Brinkman – Philosophy of Mind Rap
A deaf scientist explores the neural basis of auditory experience, specifically rap music.
From the album "The Rap Guide to Consciousness"
Bandcamp: http://music.bababrinkman.com
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1282574809
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rap-Guide-Consciousness-Baba-Brinkman/dp/B075LPDRX8
Music produced and mixed by Tom Caruana
Keys by Simon Kendall
Video animation by Olivia Sebesky
Additional vocals by Heather Berlin
Further reading:
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_argument
• ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/RoboMaryfinal.htm
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdKEy6vcCMw -
Room – Baba Brinkman – Philosophy of Mind Rap
From the album "The Rap Guide to Consciousness"
Bandcamp: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-consciousness
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1282574809?ls=1&app=itunes
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rap-Guide-Consciousness-Baba-Brinkman/dp/B075LPDRX8
Music produced and mixed by Tom Caruana
Keys by Simon Kendall
Video animation by Olivia Sebesky and Don Cieslik
Further reading:
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room
• ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/searle.htm
THE RAP GUIDE TO CLIMATE CHAOS
A hip-hop tour of global warming science, exploring the temperature highs and ethical lows associated with this hot-button issue.
Released September 2016
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | Spotify
Canadian rapper and former tree-planter Baba Brinkman breaks down the science, politics, and economics of global warming, following its surprising twists from the carbon cycle to the global energy economy. To paraphrase the Notorious BIG: “Mo’ carbon, mo’ problems.” With scientists, climate deniers, and even the pope adding their voices to the soundtrack, get ready for a funny and disturbing tour of the world’s hottest topic.
Music Videos
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Cloud Feedback – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the album "Bright Future", out now:
https://bababrinkman.bandcamp.com/album/bright-future
https://linktr.ee/bababrinkman
The wide range of possible warming scenarios found in climate models is mostly due to cloud feedback effects, which both influence global temperature and also respond to it. We just need clouds to spill their secrets.
Further Reading:
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-low-end-climate-sensitivity-can-now-be-ruled-out
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/world-without-clouds-hardly-clear-climate-scientists-say
Track Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Chorus by Skillz FJ
Guitar and Additional Percussion by Skillz FJ
Keys by Simon Kendall
Scientific Consultation by Stefan Buehler, University of Hamburg
Caption Translations by:
German: Sabrina Harich / Stefan Buehler
Italian: Nico Cimini
Spanish: Yanmichel Morfa Avalos
Brazilian Portuguese: David Marcolino Nielsen
Korean: Doyeon Kim / Yechul Shin / Hanjun Kim
Chinese: Ge Cheng
Made with Support from
The German Research Foundation
aka The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Under Germany’s Excellence Strategy, EXC 2037
CLICCS: Climate, Climatic Change, and Society
Project Number: 390683824 -
Offsetters – Baba Brinkman Music Video
When organizations go "carbon neutral", the hardest emissions to curb are generally 'offset' with carbon removal and pollution reduction projects where cuts can be made more affordably, leading to a massive 'carbon market' trading in credits of various kinds. Can we trust it? And does it actually make net emissions go down, or is it the ultimate greenwash?
Whatever you believe about the industry, the offsetters are not backing down.
Further reading:
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/are-carbon-offsets-joke-response-comedian-john-oliver
Made with support from Agendi:
https://agendi.co/
Learn more about custom rap videos and book yours:
https://www.eventrap.com/ -
Targeted Pressure – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The nascent CDR (carbon dioxide removal) industry is innovating dozens of creative ways to capture carbon, some using biology and botany and ecology, some oceanology, some chemistry and physics and engineering and computer science.
It's an exciting race to the top with the ultimate target of scaling up until carbon removal is so cheap and plentiful that it can lower the parts per million of carbon in the earth's atmosphere and reverse global warming.
Let's put them all up on the same stage, Lollapalooza!
Learn more about carbon removal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_removal
Learn more about custom raps and book yours:
https://www.eventrap.com
Made with support from Nori:
https://nori.com/ -
Greenhouse Effect – Baba Brinkman Music Video
A hip-hop history of the past two centuries of climate science discoveries.
Download or Stream the Track
Bandcamp: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-climate-chaos
Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-rap-guide-to-climate-chaos/1144600580
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/32iFtZIcD4R4KeOxMBFjpi
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Greenhouse-feat-Aaron-Nazrul/dp/B01KXBBO32
Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_climate_change_science
https://www.skepticalscience.com/history-climate-science.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15874560
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Featuring Bill Nye (filmed at NECSS 2016, New York, NY)
Music by Tom Caruana
Chorus Vocals by Aaron Ross
Keys by Simon Kendall
Guitar by Tom Van Deursen
Original Backing Video by Olivia Sebesky
Edited by Buck Bowen -
This or That – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The world faces a stark choice, rapidly phase out fossil fuel use, or suffer the ecological, economic, and human consequences of catastrophic climate change. What's it going to be, this or that?
Endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty:
https://fossilfueltreaty.org/
Baba Brinkman live at COP26 November 9, 2021:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/baba-brinkman-live-at-cop26-tickets-189761671267
From the album The Rap Guide to Climate Chaos (2016):
https://bababrinkman.bandcamp.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-climate-chaos
Inspired by the original song "The Choice is Yours" by Black Sheep:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9F5xcpjDMU
Credits:
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Cuts by Corey J fka Illspokinn
Piano and Organ by Simon Kendall
Vocal Mix & Master by Mr. Simmonds
Instrumental Mix by Tom Caruana
Instrumental Master by Mozu Mastering
Video Edited by Buck Bowen -
IPCC – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change summarized in rap form.
Learn more about the IPCC reports:
https://www.ipcc.ch/
Support my videos:
https://www.patreon.com/bababrinkman
From the album "The Rap Guide to Climate Chaos":
https://bababrinkman.com/music#climate-chaos
THE RAP GUIDE TO RELIGION
A full-length concept hip-hop album about the evolutionary origins or religious instincts.
Released October 2015
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | Spotify
If the answer to the number one BIG QUESTION of religion is “no”, what other questions are worth asking? This album tackles the OTHER big questions of religion, such as “How did faith evolve?”, “Does it serve any adaptive purpose today?”, and “Is religion an adaptation, a byproduct of an adaptation, or a virus of the mind?” With lyrics that were “peer reviewed” for accuracy by experts in the field of Evolutionary Religious Studies, Rap Guide to Religion offers fifteen tracks of mind-blowing science and auditory irreverence from a truly unique voice in hip-hop.
Music Videos
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God of the Gaps – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The earliest evolutionary origins of religion probably lie in a highly adaptive "agency detection" bias in our brains, a tendency to see minds and intentions where there are none, just to be safe.
"The Rap Guide to Religion" full album now available:
http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-religion
God of the Gaps
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Soulful Spider
Chorus Vocals by Gaiaisi
Animation by Dave Anderson
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Additional Vocals by Linda Kidder
Mixed by Lin Gardiner
Mastered by Mr. Simmonds
Made with support from the Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion (IBCSR)
Further reading:
1. http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/religion-as-anthropomorphism-an-interview-with-stewart-guthrie/
2. http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/04/08/398227737/what-the-god-of-the-gaps-teaches-us-about-science
3. http://www.michaelshermer.com/2013/07/gods-of-the-gaps/ -
Religion Evolves – Baba Brinkman Music Video
Evolutionary religious studies devises and tests scientific hypotheses that help to explain the origins and details of the complex behaviors we associate with faith traditions across cultures. Even if we aren't sure how exactly genes and culture come together to make happen, one thing we can be sure of is this: religion evolves.
From the album "The Rap Guide to Religion", now available:
http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-religion
Animation by Steven Fahey (full-time animator for the Simpsons)
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Soulful Spider
Co-Production and Mix by Mr. Simmonds
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Further Reading 1:
http://www.fos.auckland.ac.nz/~quentinatkinson/Quentin_Atkinsons_Website/Home_files/SFR12_20%20Bulbulia%20et%20al_Author%20Copy.pdf
Further Reading 2:
http://courses.washington.edu/evpsych/DS%20Wilson%20-%20testing%20hypotheses%20about%20religion%20-%20Hum%20Nat%202004.pdf -
Neighborhood Atheism – Baba Brinkman ft. Greydon Square
Support my videos on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bababrinkman
Song from the album "The Rap Guide to Religion" available now:
http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-religion
Further Reading:
• https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-atheists-we-distrust/
• https://evolution-institute.org/article/evolutionary-studies-of-religion-and-of-secularism-2/
THE RAP GUIDE TO MEDICINE
A sonic exploration of the ultimate origins of disease in our evolutionary past, from trade-offs between reproduction and survival to mismatches between ancient and modern environments. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, infection, obesity, and even the aging processes in our very cells obey the logic of evolution. To better answer questions about how to cure disease, medicine must first ask Why We Get Sick.
Released March 2015
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | Spotify
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Mr. Simmonds, with co-production on track 8 by Tom Caruana. Commissioned by Randy Nesse at the ASU Center for Evolution and Medicine and made with support from the International Society for Evolution, Medicine & Public Health, the ASU Center for Evolution and Medicine, the Perlstein Lab, and the Society for Applied Microbiology.
Music Videos
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Parasite Wars – Lyric Video
Infectious diseases are the product of a co-evolutionary arms race between parasites and their hosts. From the album "The Rap Guide to Medicine".
Download and Stream the Track:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/track/parasite-wars
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2ymAPVv5m0vlMWTf3CtICu?si=T9Q6hvryRKOpJm5Zd5uBrg
Further Reading:
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150316-ten-parasites-that-control-minds
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/mammals-made-by-viruses#.VQcoAkJ3FAs -
Patients Waiting – Baba Brinkman Lyric Video
There are thousands of inherited diseases caused by mutations in key metabolic genes, of which just one is Niemann-Pick C, part of a family of lysosomal storage disorders involving lipid transfer in cells.
The CRISPR revolution is at hand, and there are many many patients waiting for it to succeed. Let's go!
Bonus track from the album The Rap Guide to Medicine:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-medicine
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Mr. Simmonds
Video by Rob Penczak
Scientific Consultation by Ethan Perlstein
Song made with support from Perlara:
https://www.perlara.com/
Video made with support from Synthego:
https://www.synthego.com/ -
Baba Brinkman – Gene's Eye View
To understand the origins of genetic diseases, and to help treat and cure them, you have to take the gene's eye view.
From the album "The Rap Guide to Medicine" available now:
http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-medicine
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Mr. Simmonds
Animation by Dave Anderson
Made with support from The Perlstein Lab -
Revenge of the Somatic – Baba Brinkman Music Video
A cancer cell rebels against the tyranny of the body, revealing the hidden evolutionary logic behind carcinogenesis.
Download and Stream:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/track/revenge-of-the-somatic-2
https://music.apple.com/us/album/revenge-of-the-somatic/979284324?i=979284825
https://open.spotify.com/track/7yIptNDl9az4joEsfP6zNi?si=B27hVlrKRrmM0dDpuBLmgA
https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-of-the-Somatic/dp/B00V3YA41W
Further reading:
https://slate.com/technology/2017/04/cancer-has-been-with-us-since-the-origins-of-multicellularity.html
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691163840/the-cheating-cell
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/science/cellular-cheaters-give-rise-to-cancer.html
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Mr. Simmonds
Animation by Dave Anderson
Scientific Consultation by Athena Aktipis
Made with support from the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center
https://cancer-insights.asu.edu/ -
Stay Home – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the album "Bright Future", out now:
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/bright-future
https://linktr.ee/bababrinkman
The science of the COVID-19 outbreak in rap format. Music video produced from home.
Sources:
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56
Instrumental Sample Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7bobc-vRbQ
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Track Produced by Mr. Simmonds
Additional Bass by Mark Fitzpatrick
Video by Anna C. Gilmore
Featuring:
Akash Balaji, Alex Andorra, Anna Gilmore, Atticus Ratan, Carl Bergstrom, Chelsea Grunert, Chuck Nice, Colin Wansink, Dan Paradies, Dante DeSantis, Dylan Brinkman, Evan Fitzpatrick, Georgia Wluka, Hannah Brinkman, Helen Bergstrom, Isla Luskoff, Janelle London, Jesse Rifkin, Jordan Luskoff, Laura Wheeler, Leslie Peone, Lillian Peone, Lin Gardiner, Lucie Pohl, Luke Grunert, Madhusudan Katti, Mariella Price, Mark Fitzpatrick, Mark Pallen, Mason Fitzpatrick, MC Lars, Mike Carter, Mollie Pettit, Myq Kaplan, Natasha Hurley-Walker, Nate Lombardi, Noelle Janasiewicz, Raylan Peone, Richard Lenski, Robby Ratan, Robert Brinkmann, Roberto De Jesus, Sanzari Aranyak, Shanique Alladen, Tad Johnson, Thelonius Ratan, Tom Frew, Vivienne Wluka, Will Naameh -
Feelings for Reasons – Baba Brinkman Music Video
The evolutionary origins of emotions and mental illness, contemplated in a time of grief and depression.
Inspired by the book "Good Reasons for Bad Feelings" by Randy Nesse. http://goodreasons.info'
Album "See From Space" available now:
Bandcamp: https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/see-from-space
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/see-from-space/1472326163
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/See-Space-Baba-Brinkman/dp/B07V3DF34W -
Senescence – Baba Brinkman Music Video
Evolutionary theories of aging and degeneration, from the album The Rap Guide to Medicine
https://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-medicine
Support my videos on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bababrinkman
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Mr. Simmonds
Animation by Rob Penczak
Made with support from the European Society for Evolutionary Biology -
So Infectious – Baba Brinkman Music Video
From the album "The Rap Guide to Medicine" – available now for streaming and download:
http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-medicine
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman http://bababrinkman.com
Animation by Dave Anderson http://bloodsausage.co.uk
Produced by Tom Caruana http://teasearecords.com
Co-Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Jamie Simmonds http://mrsimmondsmusic.com
Made with support from the Society for Applied Microbiology http://sfam.org.uk
Learn more about custom rap videos and book yours:
https://www.eventrap.com/ -
CARTA: Baba Brinkman and The Rap Guide to Medicine
(Visit: http://www.uctv.tv/) Canadian Rap-Artist, award-winning playwright, and former tree-planter Baba Brinkman brings his singular form of "peer-reviewed" Rap to the CARTA symposium Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health with a very special performance of unique Raps on disease, evolution and even the symposium itself. Recorded on 10/14/2016. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31611] -
Adaptive Medicine - Lyric Video
A defense of the Obamacare commissioned by Swedish Medical Centre in Seattle http://www.swedish.org and performed at their Health Care Symposium in October 2010.
Swedish asked me to write a rap song about the debate over US health care reform, and cautioned that it shouldn't be a "partisan rant" but that I was free to express my views. Most of it is directly based on Atul Gawande's writing in the New Yorker.
Sources:
Atul Gawande: "The Cost Conundrum"
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande
Atul Gawande: "Testing, Testing"
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/12/14/091214fa_fact_gawande
Wikipedia: "Canada vs US Health Care"
Wilkenson & Pickett: "The Spirit Level"
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Music by Mr. Simmonds
THE CANTERBURY TALES REMIXED
Gritty retellings of four of Chaucer’s most unforgettable Canterbury Tales, plus the epic stories of Beowulf and Gilgamesh, The Canterbury Tales Remixed takes you on an auditory journey into the distant past, accompanied by the epic cinematic music production of Mr. Simmonds.
Released April 2012
THE RAP GUIDE TO WILDERNESS
Developed in collaboration with The WILD Foundation, this hip-hop celebration of wild nature explores the many contributions of wilderness to human wellbeing. 50% of the net profits from each album sale are donated to WILD to advance their wilderness conservation efforts. Engineered, co-produced, and mixed by Lin Gardiner at Super G Music Studios.
Released December 2014
Music Videos
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Veni Vidi Vici – Baba Brinkman (feat. Aaron Nazrul)
Support my videos on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bababrinkman
Download The Rap Guide to Wilderness:
http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-wilderness
Veni Vidi Vici
Written by D. Brinkman, T. Caruana, S. Kendall and A. Ross
Produced by Tom Caruana
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Chorus by Aaron Nazrul
Guitar by Andreas Schuld
Clavinet and accordion by Simon Kendall
Video by Nicholas Castel
Made with support from the Bookend Trust
http://www.bookendtrust.com
Thylacine footage used with permission from the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (Film - Tasmanian Tiger - original zoo footage AB869/1/2934)
Further reading:
https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/
https://theconversation.com/extinction-just-how-bad-is-it-and-why-should-we-care-13751
http://phys.org/news/2012-10-true-worldwide-billions-annually.html -
Baba Brinkman - Tranquility Bank ft. Aaron Nazrul
Recharge your batteries in nature, periodically.
Buy this track from iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-rap-guide-to-wilderness/id940111159
Download The Rap Guide to Wilderness:
http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-wilderness
This video was made with support from the Wild Foundation: http://wild.org
THE RAP GUIDE TO HUMAN NATURE
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Brighton hip-hop virtuoso Mr. Simmonds, Human Nature is Volume Two of Baba’s “peer-reviewed” Rap Guide series, exploring the science of evolutionary psychology and some of the bizarre behavior patterns of the world’s most fascinating primate species.
Released August 2010
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | CD Baby | Spotify
Framed by five popular theories of human nature: creationism, spiritualism, social constructivism, biological determinism, and evolutionism, this album tackles some of the big questions in philosophy, psychology and science, with the help of top science writers David Buss, Olivia Judson, and David Sloan Wilson. Provocative and fascinating subjects (She’s Ovulating, The Evolution of Gayness, Twin Studies) are deftly spliced with some incredible beats and turntablism to bring you hip-hop as you’ve never heard it before. Now available as a comedy DVD from Go Faster Stripe.
“An inspired, groove heavy, high production values record with a wonderful lyrical touch."
– Mind Hacks
"If Eminem and Dawkins had a baby, Baba Brinkman would be the result... does a wonderful job at explaining what makes science so important."
– Elephant Journal
"A genius work of popular culture attempting to integrate itself with the current level of human knowledge."
– Refresher Towel
"I’m no hip-hop connoisseur – in fact I’ve never really listened to it – but I’ve enjoyed the music of this album as much and possibly more than the science contained within his lyrics and it has made me want to try out more rap."
– Spotisfaction
Music Videos
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Short-Term Mating Dance – Baba Brinkman Music Video
A passable facsimile of David Attenborough narrates the bizarre courtship behavior of one of planet earth's most peculiar social primates.
Download the album:
http://bababrinkman.bandcamp.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-human-nature
Filmed on location at C Bar, Edinburgh, August 2004, during my first ever Fringe. My brother Erik cruised through the bar with a handycam capturing some hilarious footage, and I wrote the song to go with it, taking some inspiration from the BBC Blue Planet series. Can anyone name all the animals referenced by the Attenborough quotes?
Music Produced by the Mr. Simmonds
Video Edited by Tommy Nagle -
Twin Studies - Baba Brinkman
Baba Brinkman gets a surprise call from his long-lost identical twin brother while working on the lyrics for his Rap Guide to Human Nature CD.
http://bababrinkman.bandcamp.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-human-nature
APOCALYPTIC UTOPIAN DREAMS IN THE WESTERN WILDERNESS
Baba’s fifth full-length hip-hop album, featuring Aaron Nazrul, Smoky Tiger, Erica Dee, Tia Brazda, Noa Bodner, and Chantel Upshaw, with production from Lucid Notion, Infinite Potential, Mr. Simmonds, and Tom Caruana (UK), and DJ NST (Germany). Engineered, co-produced, mixed and mastered in Vancouver by Lin G.
Released September 2009
Music Videos
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The Road Northwest - Baba Brinkman featuring Smoky Tiger
Hopefully civilization doesn't collapse, but if it does you might want to come to BC, the best place on earth to watch from relative safety as everything else burns. West coast!
From the album "Apocalyptic Utopian Dreams in the Western Wilderness", available from the iTunes Music Store so long as technology endures:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/apocalyptic-utopian-dreams/id344980763
Credits:
Directed by Syd Woodward for Get Grounded Media
Track Produced by Infinite Potential
Concept by Baba Brinkman
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman and Smoky Tiger
Additional production, mix, and master by Lin Gardiner
Featuring Erik Brinkman's 2010 tree planting crew
Filmed on location, Glimpse Lake, BC
www.babasword.com -
Baba Brinkman Feat. Aaron Nazrul Valediction music video
The song Valediction was produced by Lin Gardiner and the video was directed and filmed by Syd Woodward. The album Apocalyptic Utopian Dreams in the Western Wilderness is now available from iTunes and other digital stores, or visit http://www.babasword.com
THE RAP GUIDE TO BUSINESS
Commissioned by the NYU Stern School of Business. Hustlers, gangsters, entrepreneurs, hip-hop music and business accumen combine in this 80's-inspired tour of the corporate world. Written as a satirical business plan for Baba Brinkman's whole Rap Guide enterprise, this album explores market economics, the intangibles of human capital, strategies for success, and corporate responsibility. The views expressed here are not necessarily the views of the Stern School of Business.
Released September 2011
THE RAP GUIDE TO EVOLUTION
Original hip-hop exploration of modern evolutionary biology, with songs about Sexual Selection, Artificial Selection, Altruism, Morality, and Unity of Common Descent.
Released July 2009
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | Spotify
Engineered and mixed by Infinite Potential (Natural Selection engineered and mixed by Lin G), Mastered by Mr. Simmonds, with production by Infinite Potential and Tom Caruana (UK), and Nokz (Turkey), this is the original peer-reviewed rap album by Baba Brinkman.
Music Videos
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Performance, Feedback, Revision - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos
Evolutionary design processes can be found at the level of genes, organisms, brains, culture, and even individual rap songs.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/performance-feedback-revision/
Credits:
Lyrics and performance by Baba Brinkman
Directed by Felix Harrison
Music by Nokz from Tehdit
Animation by Dave Anderson -
I'm A African - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide To Evolution Music Videos
All humans share a common ancestor in Africa within the past 100,000 years, so we are all Africans under the skin. Do you know what's happenin'?
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/i'm-a-african
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Soulful Spider
Animation and Effects by Tommy Nagle
Supported by The Wellcome Trust
Inspired by the Dead Prez song "I'm A African"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg5-GBB4P5Y -
Artificial Selection - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos
Humans have been intervening in evolution for millennia, it's called "artificial selection". And by analogy, we select and spread the cultural variants around us as well, including rap songs. You're a farmer, you can't opt out of it.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/artificial-selection
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Soulful Spider
Chorus Vocals by Noa Bodner
Outro Cuts by Mr. Simmonds
Animated and Edited by Tommy Nagle
Supported by The Wellcome Trust -
Creationist Cousins - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos
I have creationist relatives, and relative apes, and I wish them all happiness, whatever their faith, and I wish myself patience, 'cause I relish debates; let us all be respectful, and still tell it straight.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/creationist-cousins
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Directed and Edited by Felix Harrison
Additional Editing by Tommy Nagle
Supported by The Wellcome Trust -
Darwin's Acid - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos
Darwin's universal acid burns away superstitious beliefs and reveals the interconnectedness of all things.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/darwin's-acid
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Soulful Spider
Animated by Joep Veldhuis
Illustrated by Silvia Van Schie
Supported by The Wellcome Trust -
Hypnotize - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide To Evolution Music Videos
The verbal dexterity heard in a typical rap song is analogous to a peacocks' tail, which is why the peahens (in this analogy) would profess to be hypnotized by an effective word-display.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/hypnotize
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Directed and Edited by Felix Harrison
Supported by The Wellcome Trust
Inspired by the Notorious B.I.G. song "Hypnotize"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2taRwe_6afk -
Worst Comes To Worst - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos
Some species have evolved no fear of each other or of predators. With a bit of care, we might eventually evolve ourselves in that direction as well.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/worst-comes-to-worst
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Directed by Felix Harrison
Animation and Effects by Tommy Nagle
Chorus Vocals by Dizraeli
Cuts by Mr. Simmonds
Supported by The Wellcome Trust -
DNA - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide To Evolution Music Videos
The common building block of all organisms is DNA. It copies itself, and makes little mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes happen to make a difference in a good way, and that's evolution.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Learn more: http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/dna
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Soulful Spider
Directed by Felix Harrison
Animation by Tommy Nagle
Chorus Vocals by Noa Bodner
Dance and Choreography by Emmanuelle Julien & S.V.
Supported by The Wellcome Trust -
Natural Selection - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos
"Whoever is led to believe that species are mutable, would do good service by conscientiously expressing his conviction, for only thus can the load of prejudice by which this subject is overwhelmed, be removed." – Charles Darwin
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Tom Caruana
Directed by Felix Harrison
Animation by Tommy Nagle
Supported by The Wellcome Trust -
Survival of the Fittest - Baba Brinkman - Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos
Winner-take-all environments evoke fiercer competition, and life history theory predicts different reproductive strategies will be pursued at different times and in response to different environmental cues, including cues associated with life expectancy and resource inequality, all of which helps to make sense of gangster rap.
The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
Buy the album: http://music.bababrinkman.com/album/the-rap-guide-to-evolution
Lyrics and Performance by Baba Brinkman
Music by Soulful Spider
Directed by Felix Harrison
Animation by Tommy Nagle
Supported by The Wellcome Trust
Inspired by the Mobb Deep song "Survival of the Fittest"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxDdN-puo3g
Watch Baba's TEDx Talk discussing the theory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB_kVIoovJI
The data behind this video are drawn from the book "Homicide" by Daly and Wilson:
https://www.amazon.com/Homicide-Foundations-Behavior-Martin-Daly/dp/020201178X
Further reading can be found online at the following links.
Darwinism and the Origins of Machismo:
http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/machismo.pdf
Risk taking, Competition and Homicide:
http://rapguidetoevolution.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Risk-taking.pdf
Income inequality and social ills:
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/why/evidence
THE INFOMATIC EP
Better science communication through hip-hop. This album was conceived during our one-month songwriters-in-residency position at NIMBioS in Knoxville, Tennesee in 2012. It features five tracks of auditory goodness produced by Mr. Simmonds, exploring allo-parenting, prosimians, oxytocin homologues, cladistics, population modelling, climate change, pseudo-science accommodationism, the homophobic paradox, and the applicability of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad references to science rap.
Released November 2012
LIT-HOP (2006)
Recorded on tour in the UK 2005-2006, Baba’s seminal expression of the lit-hop genre.
Released October 2006
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | CD Baby | Spotify
Featuring Josh Matinez, Aaron Nazrul, Dizraeli, Jena Fair, and Jonny Quality (Fatboy Slim’s band), with production from Infinite Potential, Torez, Sean Moody, and Lucid Notion (UK), and Moka Only, John Tennant, and Lin G (Canada). Engineered and mixed by Lin G in Vancouver.