Slate.com: Mommy, What's a Ho? How to find good hip-hop songs for your kids to listen to
When we were adolescents, our moms weren’t too crazy about rap and hip-hop, which back then meant the Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Kurtis Blow, and, er, Blondie’s “Rapture.” But because they were busy and permissive-ish single moms, they never actually prevented us from listening to it. (Elizabeth’s mom, who had four daughters between the ages of 10 and 16 at the time, focused all her censorship efforts on one pop album: Prince’s Dirty Mind.) All the same, they made a point of letting us know that they didn’t think much of music that glorified casual sex, drugs, or violence; music that denigrated women; or music featuring swear words.Times have changed. Today, most of us are aware that rap and hip-hop are not unique among musical genres in sometimes celebrating sex, drugs, and violence, or denigrating women; and, conversely, that even the most brutal rap song might plausibly be interpreted as a confrontational act of artistic ventriloquism. So when our own kids started downloading rap songs, it was humbling to realize that we were squeamish about it for some very familiar reasons.
Slate has compiled a list of "kid-friendly" rap songs, including tracks like "Tennessee" by Arrested Development, "I Know You Got Soul" by Eric B and Rakim and "Ham n Eggs" by a Tribe Called Quest.
As a huge fan of "Dad Rap" (pre-millenial hip hop from the 70s, 80s and 90s), I can think of a few others:
"Just Buggin'" by Whistle
"Me Myself and I" by De La Soul
"Peewee's Dance" by Joeski Love
"Jamonit" by Newcleus
"Human Beat Box pt 2" by the Fat Boys
Any other suggestions?
How about from you rock fans?
Jerry Chan, Editorial Director
Re: Slate.com: Mommy, What's a Ho? How to find good hip-hop ...
From the list above, looks like Tommy Boy "greatest hits" or the best of Sugarhill (Sugarhill records) might be a good idea. The tracks themselves have stood the test of time as funk.
Tommy Boy was the 2nd biggest source of electro (real electro) for anyone that was into Hip Hop back in the day with Ultimate breakbeats (14 volumes) also being a mega source of funky delights.
For the absolute goldmine of rap/electro, look no further than Morgan Khan's STREETSOUNDS collection, 19 volumes of the real deal that was released every few months and massively anticipated. It was a UK label that also sprouted Streetsounds soul, which again was 19 volumes of absolutely killer soul and funk.
Take a look (Streetsounds rap/electro)
http://www.google.com/search?q=streetsounds+19+volumes&btnG=Search&hl=en...
Other less explicit artists would be Kid'n'play - Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Whodini, Run DMC and of course Mantronix while its worth remembering that there was a fine line between electro and rap at the time as many artists stood in the middle such as
The Soul Sonic Force (feat: Godfather of Hip Hop Afrika Bambaata)
More labels = 4th and Broadway - Crew Kuts - Champion - Cooltempo
..
Here's track from Whodini (MC XtaC and Jalil) its about WBLS rap host "Mr Magic" and a classic Hip Hop track.... dreadful video, kicking track though.
VIDEO Soundcloud tracks Some mixes
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Re: Slate.com: Mommy, What's a Ho? How to find good hip-hop ...
You might also look out for the GO-GO (a genre of funk) sound of Washington DC and includes 20 piece real musician bands such as Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, EU, Redds & the Boys plus the best known Trouble Funk....
This Trouble Funk's biggest track "Pump Me Up", I span it at the Marine Ball a few weeks back....very, very loud!!
VIDEO Soundcloud tracks Some mixes
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Re: Slate.com: Mommy, What's a Ho? How to find good hip-hop ...
Trouble Funk Express - great song. My daughter loves it
Jerry Chan, Editorial Director
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