Assembly George Square Studios
Aug 13-14, 16-28 (17.40)

Baba Brinkman spits a massively entertaining lesson on the science of consciousness at Fringe Fest 2017. Baba’s raps deal with neuroscience, philosophy and general musings on what it means to be a thinking human being. Our rattle-chanting shaman pontificates on a number of cool topics, the first being the philosophies behind the thought-experimental mind, when he relays a story of a girl born deaf, who spends her whole life learning all the hip hop available through inaudible means. An incredibly intelligent platform for the Baba’s new piece. Our rapper then wonders: If the woman were to gain hearing after all this learning, and had the chance to finally hear hip hop, would she hear something new or would she have already known hip hop through her non-hearing experience?

Not only does Baba Brinkman display tight rhymes, he also gives us tools to better understand ourselves. He is “the first peer-reviewed rapper,” and for this show he worked with Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, who made a guest appearance to improvise some lines about the critical stages of neural development. Science rap could easily be cheesy, but Baba brings serious skills to the stage. The information he presents will keep you thinking for a long time after – maybe a lifetime – and help you understand your mind in a new way. A show, a lecture & a concert all tangled in one enigmatic ball of brilliance. Baba is out there, for sure, but anyone can take a trip to visit him & he welcomes all-comers.

Reviewer : Michael Beeson