Unlikely Summer Jams 2007: Kids Rap

fence me in, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

For this second set of summer jams, I picked Rappers Delight Club and Wilcannia Mob, two acts that are not just singalongably sunny, but also hilariously honest. Both come from the peculiar and wonderful genre of kids' rap, but manage to stay far from the glossy Lil' clones so familiar from MTV (excepting the aforeblogged lipgloss-genius Lil' Mama, and with one honorably surreal mention of seven-year-old reggeaton sensation Miguelito, whose video for Boom Boom disturbingly alternates between cute kids at the zoo and gyrating mamas at a racetrack).

One very cool Maryland school teacher created the Glenallen Rappers Delight Club, a regular jam session at one of his daycare programs. Though they also boast tracks based on Sesame Street, Sufjan, and even Wes Anderson beats, their most summery track coasts on a joyous Motowny sample by notoriously melancholy Swede Jens Lekman (!?!). When We Were Kids immediately giggles out of the speakers, kids rhyming off their best lines as they celebrate being young and irresponsible, "Got no bills to pay, I can play all day." These bubbly kids are natural rappers, rhyming soap with antelope, and their lines are eccentrically paced and singularly funny, "I have a dad. I'm so glad he buys me popsicles. If he didn't, I wouldn't have popsicles!"

The Australian Wilcannia Mob takes an approach that is less block party, favoring rural outback subjects such as fishing and playing the didj' more natural to their hometown, 620 miles southwest of Sydney in New South Wales. Over Downriver's simple but hypnotic beatbox and didgeridoo rhythm (produced by Morganics, his website also features tracks made with Indonesian and Tanzanian kids), the five Aboriginal boys rap us through their ideal summer day: catching some fish, jumping off the bridge, and playing the their didgeridoos. Here, the poetry is also quite miraculous in its joyous simplicity, ranging from the deadpan "When I catch a fish. I put it in the fridge," to the more esoteric "This is my rhyme, and that's what I said." Born from workshops by South Sydney-based organisation Shopfront Theatre for Young People, the track has won several awards since its release to Ausssie radio station Triple J, and has even been re-edited by M.I.A. producer Diplo.