Burns night (Monday 25 January 2010) has arrived and in a bid to attract new audiences to the bard’s work, the National Trust for Scotland has invited renowned Scottish beatboxer Bigg Taj and respected rapper Louie, known as Bohemian Boombox, to stamp their urban flavour on one of Burns’ most famous poems - Address to the Haggis.
As work continues on the new £21m Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, the National Trust for Scotland is keen to introduce the work of the ploughman’s poet to a younger audience and is reaching out to contemporary, urban artists to highlight the universal appeal and versatility of Burns’ work.
Bigg Taj, who grew up in Glasgow and has supported the likes of the legendary GrandMaster Flash and urban singing sensation Jay Sean, and Louie, who is on the Strategic Music Partenership and Youth Music Forum, have interpreted one of Burns’ most famous poems ‘Address to the Haggis’ - (Lyrics below in black are by Robert Burns – lyrics in red are by rapper Louie – extended lyrics at end of release).
A version of the rap is available online at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybIOnS851SE
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.
Far fae yer high rise flats n yer menchies
Poetic lyricism is non pretentious
Burns was world wide before the internet was invented
Blossoming words ‘red red’ rose scented
Nat Edwards, director of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum said: “One of our main objectives is to Burns to new audiences and show them his work is every bit as relevant now as it was all those years ago. We need to excite and engage with younger audiences - contemporary and inspirational artists such as Bigg Taj and Louie can help us bring Burns’s words to life for the younger generation.
“Robert Burns entertained his posse of cronies by composing poems about his life, his loves and his occasional struggles; he sampled and rearranged traditional songs and work by other writers; he used the latest technology available to get his work to a mass audience and he sometimes used language that would be categorised as “Parental Advisory” if it was recorded now… I don’t think he was a million miles away from today’s hip hop artists.”
Bigg Taj said: “It’s great that the National Trust for Scotland is exploring alternative routes to promote the work of Burns – through hip hop music we make music to express our emotions and experiences – just as Robert Burns did through his poetry.”
The new £21m Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, which is due to open in Alloway in Autumn 2010, will be a completely state of the art experience that will allow visitors to interact with Burns’ work and lives through unique digital interpretations and experiences.
The new 1600m2 museum will provide space for one of the most important Burns collections in the world with state of the art education facilities that will encourage visitors to learn about Burns, his life and his work.
Burns Cottage, where the bard was born, was recently re-opened by the First Minister Alex Salmond following a £1m renovation as part of the project which included the installation of new audio visual displays that bring Burns’ story to life. The area of smallholding around the cottage has been landscaped to give an impression of the agricultural landscape that existed 250 years ago and the former Burns Museum has also been transformed into a spacious Education Pavilion which is the first educational facility in Scotland to have Burns experts on-site.
The National Trust for Scotland is currently fundraising for the final £1.1m needed to complete the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, anyone interested in making a donation can do so at
www.nts.org.uk/burns/