50p
Baba Brinkman Raps Brentwood
At Brentwood we embrace not only modern life, but also the lessons of history. Last Friday night students in Grades 11 and 12 were treated to a mentally stimulating and incredibly entertaining hybrid of the two. Vancouver’s Baba Brinkman (soon to be famous for his off-Broadway hip-hop theatre production, The Rap Guide to Evolution) is not only a rapper, but also a scholar of English literature with an MA from the University of Victoria who wrote his thesis on the parallels between hip-hop music and medieval poetry.
Known in the Canadian rap scene as “Baba Sword”, this man sliced deep into our minds with his lyrically sharp rhymes and witty verbal assaults. Setting The Canterbury Tales and Beowulf to rap, would not, at first, appear to be a promising combination. But it was! Baba introduced his show by stating that he was a firm believer in education through entertainment, and this he proved: the performance kept us spellbound - and occasionally helpless with laughter – and it gave the works of Literature 12 added meaning while fostering a new-found respect for the language of the time.
What also made this night special was Baba’s incredible ability to perform. He kept us on the edge of our seats and he truly connected with the audience. Blending together parts from his critically acclaimed The Rap Canterbury Tales and one of his more recent project, The Rap Guide to Evolution (which won the Edinburgh Fringe’s coveted Scotsman Fringe First Award in 2009) the evening was both brilliant and insightful; it will not be soon forgotten.
Brett L
Known in the Canadian rap scene as “Baba Sword”, this man sliced deep into our minds with his lyrically sharp rhymes and witty verbal assaults. Setting The Canterbury Tales and Beowulf to rap, would not, at first, appear to be a promising combination. But it was! Baba introduced his show by stating that he was a firm believer in education through entertainment, and this he proved: the performance kept us spellbound - and occasionally helpless with laughter – and it gave the works of Literature 12 added meaning while fostering a new-found respect for the language of the time.
What also made this night special was Baba’s incredible ability to perform. He kept us on the edge of our seats and he truly connected with the audience. Blending together parts from his critically acclaimed The Rap Canterbury Tales and one of his more recent project, The Rap Guide to Evolution (which won the Edinburgh Fringe’s coveted Scotsman Fringe First Award in 2009) the evening was both brilliant and insightful; it will not be soon forgotten.
Brett L