Darwin meets Dr. Dre in video series about evolution

Adding to the growing list of science rap videos, a new website launched this week featuring musical renditions of concepts in evolutionary biology. Titled “The Rap Guide to Evolution,” the video series was developed by rapper Baba Brinkman with support from the Wellcome Trust to enhance the teaching of evolution in schools.

In an entry posted today on the Wellcome Trust blog, Brinkman discusses how he came to rap about evolution and how the project evolved into an educational tool. He says:

Priority one for me was to make a performance that’s publicly entertaining. I didn’t let the idea that this is a teaching tool dominate the project. My first goal was to make the ideas that are complicated or scary about Darwinian biology accessible. Having said that, I’ve found that schools find a project interesting if they don’t think it’s made specifically for them. It’s more useful to use something as a teaching tool if it also has a social impact.

The introductory video above is the first of 12 that will be available on the site. Forthcoming videos will focus on a range of topics including natural, artificial and group selection.

Previously: New music video from science rappers at Stanford, Another music/science mash-up from Stanford graduate and Rap video teaches how to recognize, treat sepsis in hospitals