Lit Hop with Baba Brinkman

The following programs can be adapted to time slots of approximately 60-90 minutes for grades three through college. Cost varies based on schedule and availability but is generally $1,500 for 90 minutes. These activities can also be combined with other hip-hop and spoken word performances.

Program 1: The Rap Canterbury Tales

The Rap Canterbury Tales is a clever, entertaining, and utterly hilarious one-man adaptation of Chaucer’s medieval masterpiece. The Tales of the Miller, the Pardoner, and the Wife of Bath come alive through a combination of brilliant wordplay and physical theater.. Hailed as a “hip-hop tour-de-force” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “the clearest retelling of Chaucer” (British Theatre Guide), Baba's show is now touring schools in the United States.

The presentation includes a discussion of Chaucer’s narrative techniques and poetic form in The Canterbury Tales compared to the narrative techniques and practices of contemporary hip-hop culture. This instructional component will be followed by rap performances of the tales of the Pardoner, Miller and Wife of Bath, with introductory details about the themes and characters associated with each pilgrim.

Program 2: Rap Writing Workshop

This workshop will teach participants the basics of hip-hop rhyme and rhythm technique, using familiar examples from hip-hop songs to illustrate various styles. These techniques will then be put into practice in a hands-on writing exercise, motivating participants to compose raps of their own and experiment with lyrical wordplay.

Baba Brinkman's Bio

BABA BRINKMAN, the writer and performer, is a Canadian hip-hop artist, actor, published poet, and medieval scholar, and most recently the winner of the Three Weeks Editor’s Choice Award for outstanding theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe. Since 2004, The Rap Canterbury Tales has toured festivals around the world, including performances in Prague, Melbourne, Montreal, London, New York, Brisbane, Toronto, and San Francisco. Baba Brinkman has also entertained students by invitation at dozens of universities and colleges in the United States and the United Kingdom, including Harvard, Wellesley, Oxford and Cambridge. For more information, visit Baba's website.

For information on tech requirements and scheduling, please contact Flocabulary at (718) 852-0105