Prologue - Baba Brinkman

Storytelling began fireside

In Africa, with hunter gatherer tribes

It’s deeper than the Tales we have from Canterbury;

In fact, it’s woven into the fabric of humanity

For thousands of years there was only one news source:

The bard, the griot, the troubadour

The master of ceremonial rhymes and meters

From the fireside vibe to the hi-fi speakers

Just applying the skill of words

That’s how the bard would thrill the villagers

And how today’s MCs kill a verse: verbal artistry

Biggie Smalls, Eminem, and Geoffrey Chaucer fathered me

Masters of storytelling, more compelling

Than sit-coms brought to you by the father of Tori Spelling

But before we get to Chaucer, I want to share a little piece

That’s much older — it’s from the ancient Middle East

‘Cause this is bigger than me;

it’s bigger than you, it’s bigger than rap

It’s bigger than fingers on triggers and bigger than gangsters slingin' the

crack

That’s just the latest version of an ancient story

The rage of warriors hungry for fame and glory

I’ll show you how deep it goes by opening

With the oldest story that people even know

I mean, thousands of years before the Anglo-Saxons;

It’s brought to you now through the magic of Penguin Classics