Baba Bomani

Pronouns: he/him

For 20 years, Baba Bomani has used his experience as a producer and MC to teach arts-integrated workshops, residencies, assemblies, and professional development with his curriculum, BARS. Baba Bomani uses his life experiences, mixed with his musical and poetic skills, to paint lyrical pictures of life as he sees it and the future as he envisions it. His videos have been featured on BET and MTV2, and he has hosted and performed everywhere from the Washington National Cathedral to the Fillmore in New York City. Bomani is a Kennedy Center for the Arts teaching artist and a roster artist with Young Audiences of Maryland, Young Audiences of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania,  United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County North Carolina, and Arlington County Virginia. Baba Bomani is the founder of Watermelon Day at Sankofa, a yearly celebration of community, art, education, and watermelon at Sankofa Video & Books Café. He is also the founder of a literacy and history club for students called the Frederick Douglass Writing Club.
Artist Statement:

Artist Statement

“Rapping is the ART and ENGINEERING of LANGUAGE divided by MATH”

This is the quote I want to be famous for. All of your favorite rappers and songwriters use art, engineering, language and math in songs they create, even if they are not aware of it. I have the amazing job of travelling the country and teaching these subjects through Hip Hop. If you ever see me not smiling, remind me I make rap songs with kids for a living. For over twenty years I have engaged students using Hip Hop as a teaching tool. Years of sitting down with teachers, artists, librarians, and administrators while pouring over the curriculum and lesson plans, has led to developing songs, exercises, and graphic organizers that make any student feel confident in writing. This opens up a whole world of possibilities to keep students engaged and excited about learning. This is done through the three ‘R’s’ of education: rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. I hope to nurture a world of confident speakers, active listeners, voracious readers, and explosive writers!”

In addition to being on our K-12 teaching artist roster, Baba Bomani is also a Maryland Wolf Trap Early Childhood teaching artist. Learn more about our Early Childhood programs.