Monday, August 28, 2006

Who Da Chicken Wing?


I know many of you (many of you) don't enjoy the kids doing the music. You want your music more refined or maybe less exploitative. But I have to tell you, while I don't want to listen to these tracks over 'n' over, I do enjoy their value and so does my kid. They inspire her, like "Oh I can do that." And in fact, today she did bust out a bitchin' number that went back to the chorus at least 8 different times, had a few silent breaks where she rapped and then switchbacked into a Modest Mouse-esque patois. The song was about "telling your mama" stuff.

So it had been a long, long time since I hit up WFMU for any of their weird and wonderful finds. I'd missed much, including these tracks of kids making hip hop and electronica. I've picked out the "best" (hey, it's subjective) but if you wanna hear it all, a trip over to the WFMU blog will be worth your while.

This WFMU post actually covers several different and unique kid hip hop projects, but the two that spawned the best songs for me were these:

1) Da Hip Hop Rascalz. David Soldier, a noted professor and musician (who taped the original Thai Elephant Orchestra) assembled a bunch of East Harlem school kids. they're all between the ages of 5 and 10. They put together "groups," named them (the best part really, I mean Tuff Kidz, The Boys and Girls Club of the Night, 911 rock and Roll Coyotes) and then recorded some tracks they wrote.

2) The Rappers Delight Club. This is literally a club, put together by a high school teacher and his students who do this daycare "club" for kids 5-12. And he gets 'em rapping. Same sort of thing as above, really, although it appears he makes several appearances himself (or is that the high schoolers?) And it's a bit more polished, but hey, that's a relative term.

I find them funny, what can I say. I promise, no kid-rock tomorrow.

Sweetness, "Do the Lollipop"
Looneytunes, "Chicken Wing"

Rapper's Delight Club, "Hum"
Rapper's Delight Club, "Tick Tock"

There is a short new post at superclea.com

** I never link to songs on someone else's server, but I did here. If you are from WFMU and object, I will change it, I'm just really tired and while I love my daughter, she's exhausting me on this, the last week of summer. But really, I'll change it if you want me to. **

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I think there's something special about kids performing music that makes it worth listening to once in awhile with your kids.

I heard about the Langley Schools Music Project on NPR and bought the CD because it sounded like something we could sing along with at home. Now we bring it out because the solos are really poignant and I'm amazed at what these kids were able to do accompanied by a piano, guitars, Orff chimes and other percussion instruments recording in their school gym.

Anonymous said...

We sweetness, we sweetness, we sweetness and good!

Yeah, that's not exactly the same as the flippin' "little people" singing songs from around the world (which my mom so kindly gave to my kids and my kids so kindly LOVE and I so kindly refrain from screaming cuss words every time they play it in their room at death metal concert decibles).

You can hear the kids actual creativity shine through (their list of the countries in "do the lollipop" is RAD!). It's not like they're being held in some fascist row threatened with the doom of all their dollies and action figures if they get it wrong. That's part of what's so scary about the kid rock to me.

This stuff is fun. hope you make it through the week of no school. It's a rough one!

Craig said...

I just learned of your site after someone commented on a song by The Hairy Beasties on my blog Songs:Illinois and reccomended your site. It's a kids record by Jon Langford (and others). Anyway great blog and now I know I don't have to start a 3rd blog since you've got the kids corner covered.