yeah
Charles Darwin
Hah yeah
Artificial selection
Hah Yeah
Let's get domestic
Artificial selection,
it starts with a question
How did people ever get
cows, chickens and pigs
And other animals and plants
to act so domestic?
We took them from the wild
and we bred them, brethren
Welcome to the Charles Darwin
Bicentennial
So, why does everybody think
this guy is so special?
just because a man
was born two centuries ago
Who, as far as anyone knows,
was the first
To recognize the underlying pattern
behind the pageant
Affectionately known as
"life on this planet"
He was the first to understand it
The first to translate his amazement
At the wonder of life,
into a way to explain it
So this is a celebration
of Darwin's greatness
In the form of a rap
some would say "a de-basement"
I would say "be patient",
just think of this as a manifestation
of the evolutionary equation
A recapitulation of life,
a re-enactment
So, how do you go
from amoebas to rappers?
You open The Origin of Species,
and read its chapters
The first chapter is about
the impact of people's actions
On farm animals,
pets, and domestic crops
Where did they come from?
From original stocks
Of wild animals and plants,
which were selected and crossed
For the best properties,
and thus became
the effect of their cause
But of course,
not every selection was conscious
Still, even if breeders in ancient Egypt
couldn't see this
And had no idea how to
rework the features
Of a species of sheep
or increase the sweetness
Of their peaches every season,
when they chose to seed it
Or to feed it or to breed it
or to weed it out and delete it
'Cause they didn't see it as needed,
whether the preferences in question
Were for bigger chicken breasts
or whippets with a thinner mid-section
Or if it was just an inner predilection
to pick the best in
Any mixed collection,
that's Artificial Selection
Artificial selection,
it starts with a question
How did people ever get
cows, chickens and pigs
And other animals and plants
to act so domestic?
We took them from the wild
and we bred them, brethren
Artificial selection,
it starts with a question
How did people ever get
cows, chickens and pigs
And other animals and plants
to act so domestic?
We took them from the wild
and we bred them, brethren
But there's nothing artificial
about domestication
Ant colonies
keep domestic aphids
It's just an arrangement
where one hand washes the other
We protect the cow,
and the cow offers the udder
And even if there's never
a conscious discussion
If our little selections
and little preferences
Can change and enhance
the critical differences
Between wild and domestic breeds
over the centuries
Then maybe that can explain...
everything
In nature it isn't us
that makes the selections
It's just survival and reproduction
in the midst of competition
Where slight differences
that arise randomly
Get selected by the pressures
applied environmentally
And eventually species divide
like a family tree
Into everything alive,
from a fly to a manatee
So how does this apply
to the craft of the MC?
Well, variation is found
in the styles on display
Rappers all have different techniques
when they're on stage
And the results can be seen
in the audience's face
Like at my shows,
people all look amazed
Like guppies removed abruptly
from their aquatic space
Some of their minds are racing
over questions of style and race
And genre and time and place,
and some of their eyes are glazed
Like "For God's sake,
how long will this take?!?"
But if they all feel that way,
then soon I'd be replaced
By someone more entertaining,
like maybe Lil Wayne
This is the rap version
of the doctrine of Malthus
It's the proportion of hungry mouths
To food resources
in the form of captive audiences
Where crowds of two or more
will always be at least
half as common as performers
Can you see the
mathematical problem?
But survival on stage
is a non-random process
'Cause those who get massive responses
tend to influence
Those who aspire to get
massive responses
So if you say I sound like Eminem,
then I'll say
"That's preposterous!"
But if you catch me grabbing my crotch
And acting obnoxious,
then I might have to acknowledge
That this is a form of imitation
modified by experience
Which is similar to the
genetic basis of inheritance
Except it's part Darwinism
and part Lamarkism
With genes and culture co-evolving
as we rock to the rhythm
But whether you think
cultures really evolve
Or if it's just a silly metaphor
that's pretty but false
Or whether you've never even
thought about that
I still think Darwin can teach us
a lot about rap
'cause it's all about that
Competition for status
with intricate language
Delivered in battles,
and it's all about getting that
Fitness advantage
and the different adaptive
behaviour patterns
That have us acting crazier than
capercaillie mating dances
But hey, that's natural selection;
so just sit back and listen
And witness the evolution
of the rap profession
Artificial selection,
it starts with a question
How did people ever get cows,
chickens and pigs
And other animals and plants
to act so domestic?
We took them from the wild
and we bred them, brethren
Artificial selection
It starts with a question
How did people ever get cows,
Chickens and pigs
And other animals
To act so domestic?
We took them from the wild
And we bred them,  brethren 
Too many MCs 
Not enough mics
