In this ground-breaking mash-up of the modern and the medieval, Baba Brinkman plays a wide-eyed rap fan who unwittingly stows away on the tour bus of a group of rappers, witnessing their behind-the-scenes battle for lyrical supremacy. The path of this pilgrimage and the stories the rappers tell combine to resurrect of one of the great texts of English literature in a style for the 21st century.

Now available as a book


Publications The Rap Canterbury Tales (Talon Books 2006).
Illustrated facing-page paperback featuring Baba’s rap lyrics and the original Middle English source, with illustrations by Erik Brinkman (Baba’s brother).


The Rap Canterbury Tales (2004) the Album

Baba’s original skillful retelling of four of Chaucer’s best-loved tales, produced by Lin G.
Purchase: Bandcamp | iTunes | Amazon | CD Baby
Listen > Album Reviews >

The Rap Canterbury Tales the theatre production

Premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004.
Winner: Three Weeks Editor's Choice Award, Edinburgh 2007.
Combining virtuoso lyricism with physical theatre and dramatic storytelling, Baba Brinkman recreates Chaucer's best-loved Tales in an engaging, accessible, and often hilarious hip-hop style. This performance is no longer available for touring, having recently been fully revised and re-written as The Canterbury Tales Remixed (above).
Production Reviews >