The Rap Guide to Religion is a hip-hop concept album about the evolution of religious instincts, by Canadian science rapper Baba Brinkman. If the answer to the number one BIG QUESTION of religion is "no", what other questions are worth asking? This album tackles the OTHER big questions of religion, such as "How did faith evolve?", "Does it serve any adaptive purpose today?", and "Is religion an adaptation, a byproduct of an adaptation, or a virus of the mind?”
With lyrics that were "peer reviewed" for accuracy by experts in the field of Evolutionary Religious Studies, Rap Guide to Religion offers fifteen tracks of mind-blowing science and auditory irreverence from a truly unique voice in hip-hop.
Reviews:
"Brinkman is able to successfully combine mind-expanding academic knowledge but with beats that make you tap your fingers on the steering wheel and earworms that can stay in your head for days."
– Daily Beast
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/25/canada-s-white-rapper-takes-on-religion.html
"Terrific and informative"
– Huffington Post
www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-james-clark/baba-brinkman-rappin-reli_b_8516166.html
"A thought-provoking and hip exploration of some of humanity’s deepest concerns"
– This View of Life Magazine
evolution-institute.org/article/baba-brinkman-rapping-up-evolutionary-theories-of-religion/
"Major themes; big thinking"
– The Province
www.theprovince.com/touch/story.html?id=11516515
“Baba Brinkman is the Eminem of atheism and the Jay-Z of secularism—a rapping genius with biting wit that appeals to a whole new generation of free thinkers and humanists fed up with religion’s cultural dominance. His Rap Guide to Religion is for this decade what Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion was for the previous decade—a breakthrough work that changes peoples’ perspective."
—Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic magazine and author of "The Moral Arc"
"Rap Guide to Religion is insightful, daring, and hilarious. An unforgettable exploration of one of humanity's most enduring and puzzling experiences.”
— Ara Norenzayan, Professor of Psychology and Author of "Big Gods"
"A lyrical masterpiece that makes you bounce your head at the same time it makes you use it.”
— Peter Boghossian, Philosopher and Author of A Manual for Creating Atheists
"Baba Brinkman gets into your mind with music, drops in new ideas based on the latest science, and leaves you with a feeling of enlightenment.”
— Jonathan Haidt, Author of "The Righteous Mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion"
released October 23, 2015
Special thanks to the 314 Kickstarter backers who made this album possible.
Shouts out to John Teehan, Michael Blume, Stewart Guthrie, Richard Sosis, David Sloan Wilson, and Jonathan Haidt – thanks for your "peer review" input.
And thanks to Kate Smurthwaite for clarifying my thinking on the BIG QUESTIONS of religion.
Credits:
1. Invocation
(D. Brinkman, J. Simmonds)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Cello by Peggy Lee
2. Religion Evolves
(D. Brinkman, D. Moross)
Produced by Soulful Spider
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Co-Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Further Reading: 1.
bit.ly/1EdHXxU
2.
bit.ly/1KeBTpD
3. God of the Gaps (Feat. Gaiaisi)
(D. Brinkman, D. Moross)
Produced by Soulful Spider
Chorus Vocals by Gaiaisi
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Additional Vocals by Linder Kidder
Mixed by Lin Gardiner
Further Reading: 1.
www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/religion-as-anthropomorphism-an-interview-with-stewart-guthrie/
2.
www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/04/08/398227737/what-the-god-of-the-gaps-teaches-us-about-science
3.
www.michaelshermer.com/2013/07/gods-of-the-gaps/
4. Sapiosexual
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Further Reading:
www.alisongopnik.com/papers_alison/Explain%20final.pdf
5. Give Thanks
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Further Reading: 1.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_detection
2.
bit.ly/1KeBOlV
6. Bad Things Happen
(D. Brinkman, D. Moross)
Produced by Soulful Spider
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Mixed by Lin Gardiner
Further Reading:
www.mpmlab.org/Gray%20&%20Wegner%20(2010).%20Blaming%20God%20for%20our%20Pain.%20PSPR.pdf
7. Theory of Mind
(D. Brinkman, D. Moross)
Produced by Soulful Spider
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Co-Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
www.livescience.com/20654-autism-belief-god.html
8. Byproduct to Benefit
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Additional Vocals and Guitars by Tom Van Deursen
Further Reading:
genealogyreligion.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Adaptationist-Byproduct-Debate-Sosis.pdf
9. Spread It
(D. Brinkman, D. Moross)
Produced by Soulful Spider
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Co-produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Further reading: 1.
robboyd.abcs.asu.edu/HenrichBoydRichersonHumNat08.pdf
2.
www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138(09)00024-5/fulltext
10. Virus of the Mind
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Guitars by Tom Van Deursen
Further Reading (Pro):
www.inf.fu-berlin.de/lehre/pmo/eng/Dawkins-MindViruses.pdf
Further Reading (Con):
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/16/why-no-longer-believe-religion-virus-mind
11. Andrew Murray
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Further Reading (Science):
blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/gods-little-rabbits-religious-people-out-reproduce-secular-ones-by-a-landslide/
Further Reading (Andrew Murray):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)
12. Fertility Gods
(D. Brinkman, D. Moross)
Produced by Soulful Spider
Violin by Todd Reynolds
Mixed by Lin Gardiner
Further reading:
denisdutton.com/baumeister.htm
13. Supernatural Punishment
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Further Reading: 1.
www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6251/918.full
2.
press.princeton.edu/titles/10063.html
14. Neighborhood Atheism (Feat. Greydon Square)
(D. Brinkman, J. Simmonds, G. Square)
Produced and Mixed by Mr. Simmonds
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Guest verse by Greydon Square
Further reading:
www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-atheists-we-distrust/
15. Imagine
(D. Brinkman, T. Caruana)
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Piano and Organ by Simon Kendall
String Arrangement by Simon Kendall
Cello by Peggy Lee
Violin by Mark Ferris
Further reading:
www.naturalism.org/spirituality
Strings and additional keyboards on all songs except 12 recorded by Simon Kendall at Hammond Ave Studios.
Album Mastered by Mr. Simmonds