Tag: hip-hop

Album Spotlight: Buddy’s Magic Toy Box performed by Mega Ran

Librarians, Parents, Teachers, Uncategorized
Hip hop as a genre within children’s music has been steadily growing over the last few years with artists like SaulPaul, Fyütch, and GRAMMY-winners Alphabet Rockers leading the way. A new voice arrived on the scene this week – Mega Ran. Born in Philadelphia and now living in Phoenix, Raheem “Mega Ran” Jarbo has been making a name for himself over the past 15 years as a nerdcore rapper, often rooting his music in beats from video games and crafting lyrics built around the world of wrestling. This month he debuted his first album for children, Buddy’s Magic Toy Box. 
 
 
 
From the first beat of Buddy’s Magic Toy Box, listeners are drawn into a world of affirmation, inclusion, and joy. Being new to children’s music, Mega Ran takes what he does best – be an entertainer and storyteller, and perfectly adapts that to a new, younger audience. Each song is carefully crafted, marrying lyrics with the talents of special guests and surprising musical genres like ska-punk, jazz, and R&B. The album opens with “Count Me In” an ode to the classic “Pinball Number Count” by the Pointer Sisters (which if you’re of an age, like me, you can still sing from memory). Not only does “Count Me In” teach listeners to count to ten in English and Spanish, but it also includes easy to follow rhymes and backing vocals by a group of children layered over an electronic beat. Over the course of the next eleven songs, Mega Ran tackles topics such as bullying and friendship and includes a kid-accessible history of hip hop. On the earworm, “That’s Okay (feat. Kadesh Flow),” he addresses the experiences of people of color or other folks who have hard to pronounce names, and in the very powerful “Big and Scary,” Mega Ran faces head-on the painful struggles that occur when you are a kid who has a body type different than those around you. [For a similar perspective from a young girl’s point of view, pick up Vashti Harrison’s picture book Big.] The album is rounded out by the gentle flow of the end-of-day lullaby, “Goodnight, Baby.” Buddy’s Magic Toy Box is available on your favorite streaming services and is not to be missed!
 
Learn more about Mega Ran and his new album below.
What was the transition like for you moving from making music geared more toward adults to making music for kids?

It wasn’t as hard as I’d thought. I spent a ton of days just brainstorming before I started. I was really in my own way – overthinking the process when it wasn’t too different than writing the songs I had done prior. I just wanted to focus on making sure the message was clear and concise, and that the choruses were bright and fun.

Several of your songs are rooted in your own experiences. Why was it important to you to use those personal memories in creating this album?

I’ve had the biggest experience in my adult life that inspired this record – fostering and then later adopting my first son. It’s been a life changing moment and has changed the direction of not only my music, but has me thinking about my legacy and what I bring to the art form and culture. It’s led to a really fun transition that I think will be a part of me forever.

You are known for making video game/nerdcore hip hop. What advice would you give to kids who struggle because they are nerds or have interests outside of the so-called mainstream?

I don’t think the nerds struggle is nearly as tough today as it was a few decades ago. Kids are pretty free to be themselves these days without too much pushback from society, but I’m sure there are bullies and haters everywhere. So, for kids who like things that are a little outside the norm, I’d say to embrace that difference and be yourself. It’s so much more fun standing out than fitting in.

Kids love reading the Guiness Book of World Records. You’re in the Guiness Book for having the most songs that reference a video game. Was getting the world record a goal that you had for yourself? What’s it like to be a Guiness Book of World Records holder?

It’s insane! I’ve read those books when I was young and to be in one is an absolute dream come true. I’m thankful for Guinness for recognizing my strange world and my contributions. I got an opportunity to travel to London and go to the Guinness offices, where I played songs and received a plaque with my name on it. An absolute perfect scenario, a wish fulfilled. I’ll never forget it.

Buddy’s Magic Toy Box contains such great messages and is so entertaining. Will there be more children’s music in your future?

Absolutely! I have a ton of other concepts in mind! I’ll see how things go but I absolutely see myself creating more children’s music. My producers have sent a ton of beats over that have inspired me in new ways. So I’ll do it as long as I’m inspired!

Anything else that you would like to share with us?

Grab that album! And catch me on tour! Thank you!
 
 
Leave a comment , ,

Rise Shine #Woke Performed by Alphabet Rockers

Librarians, Parents, Teachers, Uncategorized

Until now, social justice and children’s music aren’t something that I thought went together. But I was wrong. After listening to Rise Shine #Woke, the newest album from Alphabet Rockers, on repeat for the last two weeks, I am a firm believer that children’s music – children’s hip-hop in particular – is exactly where lessons on social justice belong.

Written by Alphabet Rockers main duo, Kaitlin McGaw and Tommy Shepherd, the music on this album takes on the big themes of inclusion, racism and lifting one another up and makes them accessible to children and families. Timely lyrics about things such as building walls between one another, as well as Michelle Obama’s important message, “When they go low, we go high,” are combined with tight beats to make each song unforgettable. Several of the songs have almost a 1990’s mainstream hip-hop feel (heartfelt rap lyrics combined with beautiful vocals) which makes them perfect for grade school listeners. The lyrics are powerful but never preachy nor didactic. One of my favorite songs is “What Are You?” which highlights the gorgeous vocal stylings of Kimiko Joy singing the refrain, “When they ask you what you are, you respond I’m a star, They don’t really know what they do, It’s no secret that you are you.”

In addition to Joy, this collection of songs features talented guest stars including Cactus Skidoo, Aaron Nigel Smith, Genevieve Goings, and Juan Amador. It’s not just the adults who are sharing the message though. A group of skilled kids rap on several of the songs making them instantly relatable to listeners. The album opens with the impactful interlude “Don’t Wait” which reminds us that we don’t need to, nor should we, wait until children are teenagers to start teaching them these important lessons. After listening to Rise Shine #Woke during these weeks of great discord in our country, it’s very clear that the time to teach these lessons to children of all ages is now.

One comment ,

“Mozartistic” – Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

Librarians, Parents, Teachers, Uncategorized

How do you make classical music cool? Or, is it cool already? I think it’s all a matter of perspective. Way back when I was in fifth grade, I thought playing in the orchestra was going to be cool. I was lured in to playing the cello by a high schooler who played “The Pink Panther Theme Song” on his. From the first note of that iconic tune, I knew the cello was the instrument for me.

One thing they failed to tell little fifth grade me however, was that the cello very rarely plays the melody. In fact, when we finally played “The Pink Panther Theme Song” in eighth grade, it was the violins, not the cellos who got to play that most famous tune. Not cool. But, that was ok because I had grown to love the cello and orchestra really suited me. I was a quiet, shy, child so it was a perfect fit. If you wanted to have fun, join the marching band. If you wanted to be “cool” play the trumpet or join the drum line. If you wanted to be a serious musician, play in the orchestra. Sure they tried to make the music “fun” by having us play orchestra arrangements of pop songs, but in the end we were still a bunch of sedate girls in long black skirts and geeky boys in bow ties playing a screechy arrangement of a Peter Cetera song. Cool? I don’t think so.

Luckily, over the years classical music has undergone an image makeover as musicians like violinist Vanessa Mae in the 90’s and more recently pianist Lang Lang and the 2Cellos have built images and fan bases that used to be reserved for rock stars. They dress cool, look cool and rock out on their instruments in ways rarely seen before. And the result is awesome. But while their music can definitely be listened to by kids, how can it compete with the Top 40 music they listen to on the phone and watch on YouTube?

That’s where GRAMMY-winner Secret Agent 23 Skidoo comes in. This year, as part of the Asheville Amadeus Festival, hip-hop artist Skidoo joined with the Asheville Symphony, under the direction of conductor Daniel Meyer, to create “Mozartistic.” This totally unique composition includes an arrangement of some of Mozart’s most famous pieces, melded with Skidoo’s original hip-hop stylings, to tell the story of young Mozart while also encouraging kids to pursue their dreams, to be “Mozartistic.” The end result is an amazing performance by the Asheville Symphony featuring Secret Agent 23 Skidoo with guest appearances by pianist Orion Weiss and DJ Marley Carroll. Now when I wonder, is classical music cool? The answer is, “Absolutely!” After listening to this piece over a dozen times,the fifth grade cellist inside of me is still yelling, “I am the Mozartistic!” Take a listen and you will be too!

 

 

One comment , , ,