Baba's word


Last Friday (16 July) my friend (of a friend) Jaana invited me and a a few other lucky guests to her cavernous Holland Park flat for a “private preview.”

We were treated to a pre-Edinburgh performance by Jaana’s “houseguest” Baba Brinkman, a likeable Canadian scholar and, latterly, rapper.

Baba does rap versions of Eng Lit classics such as Beowulf, the Canterbury Tales and the Finnish epic Kalevala – surely a nod to his hostess!

The gruesome violence of Beowulf fits snugly into rap culture. Chaucer’s rhyming couplets also lend themselves to rap, though Baba updates the poet’s 14th century Middle English to make it understandable to those that prowl South London wearing headphones!

Baba will be performing “The Rap Guide to Human Nature” – his amusing take on psychology and other things – in Edinburgh throughout August. More details at Baba’s website.

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