Power Trippin’

October 31 2007

Compatriots,

The new moon rose high in the crown of the metropolis, shinin’ like "who on top of this?"  Mos Def-initely it's good be back in New York City.  I'm here for a publishing industry event at the Australian Embassy tonight, Halloween revelries tomorrow, and a few token appearances in some schools and colleges over the next ten days.  Also, it looks like I finally have myself an agent based here in NY, who is going to be booking me gigs in the USA in 2008.  Check out their website and tell me this isn't a perfect fit:
http://www.flocabulary.com

Two weeks ago I arrived home from the Melbourne Fringe Festival, after six months of continuous touring, and collapsed at home for a few days of rest and jet lag recovery.  Melbourne is one of the liveliest and most entertaining cities I have visited thus far, and the fringe didn't disappoint either.  It also helped that I got a five star review in the Age newspaper during the first week of the festival and sold out every single show for the rest of the run, which inevitably makes a festival experience that much more enjoyable.  If you aren't sick of Rap Canterbury Tales reviews yet, here's the last one:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts-reviews/the-rap-canterbury-tales/2007/10/04/1191091243627.html

The last one?  Yes, after touring the show mostly independently for four years, I have decided it's time for a new chapter.  I will still perform the Tales wherever there is demand (and a budget to get me there), but I am finished with the Fringe Festival phase anyway, finished with promoting and producing it by myself.  If I do return to the Fringe it will be with a different show, but that's another story.

During my two weeks back in Vancouver I set about moving from the main floor into the basement suite of my house, and setting up a recording studio space in one of the bedrooms.  So the basement is now Lit Fuse Records headquarters, and this winter will be spent recording new tracks for a new album to be released in the Spring.  Believe it or not, when I get back from this short trip to the States, I'll be based out of Vancouver for approximately the next six months.  Whether I can contain my restlessness remains to be seen.

The other reality I encountered after my long absence was the beast of Canadian politics.  For those of you out of the loop, Stephen Harper is our current Prime Minister, an extreme right wing ideologue who managed to merge his party with the centre-right Progressive Conservative Party, creating a new Conservative Party that is unapologetically non-progressive.  How this man became the leader of Canada is still beyond me, but we're due for an election soon and I'm counting on my countrymen to set him straight.  He's a climate change denier and a political George W. Bush clone (nuff said), so upon my return I wrote a song about him, a bit of a duet between Mr. Harper and myself.  This is the first production from the Lit Fuse Records studio, now available to all and sundry for free internet download.  I hope you will take a few minutes to listen to the song, called "Power Trip", and if you enjoy it please pass on the link to friends.  I'm not selling this one, I'm just trying to get as many people to hear it as possible.  Here's the link:
http://www.myspace.com/bababrinkman

Another interesting collaboration that came together recently is with an underground rap group from Turkey called "Tehdit".  We've been in touch through the internet for a while and earlier this year they sent me a beat to write to.  I recorded my rap and sent it to them online and they produced the song in Turkey, with their lyrics all in Turkish, and just a few days ago they sent me the final result, which I think sounds excellent.  You can download the track, called "Ters Isler", from my website, and they've even sent me a rough English translation of their lyrics, which is also posted here:
http://www.babasword.com/index/singles.html

Finally, the official release date for Aaron Ross' album "Butterfly Man" has been set for November 27th, and between now and then we are on a publicity mission to spread the word about him.  If any of you have any music industry contacts, or friends who review CDs online or in print, we have promotional copies of the CD to send out both physically and electronically.  The music speaks for itself, but the promotion requires people to take an interest.

Until next time, Happy Halloween, and be good to each other.

baba