ALBUM DU JOUR #7: Better Science Communication Through Hip-Hip

Oh Baba, Baba, why do you bother?  

The emcee behind "The Rap Guide To Evolution" and "The Rap Guide To Human Nature" is again trying to use music to hip the kids to science. Baba Brinkman has dropped a new free download EP called "The Infomatic"  in which, on the title song, he describes himself as "a cross between Christopher Wallace and Christopher Hitchens" and quotes Carl Sagan.  Sagan was denied membership in the National Academy of Sciences, and, despite official explanations, it was really because Sagan tried to do what Brinkman is trying to do - deal with the enemy.  Yes, trying to explain to the masses not just the facts (which constantly change) but the methodology behind them is like trying to explain to a fish what land is like. On the last track, "Naturalizm," even Brinkman sounds a bit frustrated.

This particular release don't have a theme, as the five songs deal with various (if thoroughly non-hip-hop) subjects like: science is sexy, reading is cool, and why global warming deniers are a buncha kooks. Which probably isn't going to get much of an audience beyond some science geeks and, well, people who read blogs like this and are looking for strange, obscure musics. You gotta love hearing a Beyonce-like r'n'b chick singing: "In the mind of a climate skeptic/science is a liberal conspiracy" as Baba drops rhymes like: "I think I'll just stick to the scientific consensus/which says that there's an upper limit of/350 parts per million of atmospheric carbon."  Get down!

Still, Brinkman's got mad flow, the beats ain't bad, and it sure beats the kids' global warming musical "Penguins On Thin Ice" all to hell.  Good luck, Baba...


Baba Brinkman:  The Infomatic