Bill Nye—notorious “science guy,” mechanical engineer, longtime TV persona, and budding philosopher—is making a zany foray into rap.
Nye’s new science talk show on Netflix, Bill Nye Saves the World, is going to air this week with a rap theme song made by Tyler, the Creator, according to announcements the show made on social media. Tyler, a 26-year-old rapper and producer who’s collaborated with the likes of Kanye West and Jay Z, at first seems as starkly opposite as can be from the 61-year-old Nye. But the two explained in a short video that Nye’s long-running original show greatly influenced Tyler during childhood and inspired the rapper to put out a “fresh new take” on the PBS show’s classic theme song.
Here’s the new song:
Below is the original theme to Bill Nye the Science Guy, which was launched on PBS in 1993.
Bill Nye Saves the World, which premieres April 21 on Netflix, will tackle issues like alternative medicine and climate change. The show is coming out at a time when the US government, under Donald Trump, is considering cutting public science and educational programming; but Netflix’s decision to sponsor a science talk series shows there’s at least one private company out there committed to teaching kids science through entertainment.
And using hip hop or rap music to lure young kids into serious topics—however gimmicky that may be—isn’t a bad strategy. Just look at the masterpiece made by China’s communist government.