Always glad to hear folks from disparate parts of the kindie world coming together, especially when the result is as sunny as "Together," a brand new song from Moona Luna featuring Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.
Sandra Velasquez has written a breezy tune about friendship and getting together (natch). It's poppier than most Moona Luna music with an '80s synthpop/skiffle vibe, but there's still that hint of Latin pop that underlies everything Moona Luna does. And in the middle, Skidoo raps a fiendishly fast verse. Worth a spin.
Moona Luna (feat. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo) - "Together" [Bandcamp]
We'll start by saying that while there are a number of artists making hip-hop for kids ("kid-hop," a term which I find as generally uninspiring as the term "kindie" but have come to accept the inevitability of), Secret Agent 23 Skidoo stands at the top of that heap. There are other artists who match his beats and music, or his rhyming and rapping ability, or the subject matter, but he's the best at combining all of those into a potent musical stew.
So if I say that his latest album The Perfect Quirk, isn't his best album, that's only because Skidoo has set the bar so high. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with the music here -- Skidoo can still record songs that defy categorization, like "Imaginary Friend," a klezmer/sea chanty/horn-assisted rap partially sung from the perspective of an imaginary friend. And on "Time Machine," he and daughter Saki (AKA Mc Fireworks), trade verses about growing up. But the album is mellower than some of his other albums, and while a song "You're It" has the same theme of self-acceptance found in some of Skidoo's best songs like "Gotta Be Me," it's more the exception than the rule here. (There's a song called "PJs All Day" here, for example.)
The 38-minute album will appeal most to kids ages 5 through 9. I should re-emphasize that The Perfect Quirk is a good album. If your family likes kid-friendly hip-hop (OK, OK, kid-hop) or y'all have previously enjoyed Skidoo, then, yes, you will like this album, too. If you're new to Skidoo, I'd recommend starting with one of his other albums. But just because this album might not make your kid want to save the world (or take an amazing journey around your house) right now doesn't mean you're still not going to enjoy it. Definitely recommended.
I don't really have much to say about this song and video from the Bay Area's Alphabet Rockers except that the song, which tips its cap to "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" before moving on past that to get kids moving, NAILS IT. It's a simple pop song in the best of ways.
I tend to be most interested in the artists who stretch and challenge themselves in new ways, and while I've always thought that Secret Agent 23 Skidoo has made thoughtful, lyrical and above all moveable music for families, he's now pushing himself into new directions. Not only is he releasing The Perfect Quirk, his fifth album specifically for kids, next month, he's also written his first book (with illustrator Stu Helm), Weirdo Calhoun and the Odd Men Out.
So of course I'm that much more interested in what makes kindie's hip-hop master tick. I recently chatted with Skidoo via e-mail about weirdness, both in the past and today, finding new muses as a children's artist, and why he wanted to write a book.
Zooglobble: Were you a "weird" kid growing up? If so, did that bother you at all?
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo: Weird? Nah. Totally normal. As long as you think being a 12 year old white kid with an afro and MC Hammer pants rocking Public Enemy in rural Indiana seemed normal. I guess you could say I stuck out like a sore thumb...on a fish. And yeah, it bothered, confused, sculpted and mutated me, for sure. I took me a while to figure out that I was just around the wrong people, and that eccentricity is relative. Cause I don't have eccentric relatives.
Do you think kids are more or less comfortable with not being part of the crowd these days as opposed to when you or I were kids?
I think it seems easier but might actually be harder. The real challenge is to stand out because of what you love. To stand strong and brilliant against waves of sarcasm and ironic wit. Through greater access to voyeuristic, one way culture and cyber friendships available via the internets, there's less of "rights of passage" aspect to being an intentional outcast, so less character and connection is built and less revelations had. Also, with so many avenues of slander and anonymous cruelty through social media, it may be psychologically more intense to stand out.
The thing is to joyously, diligently be yourself and advance your unique understanding of the world in order to share it. And I think it's a good thing to have access to the myriad ideas in the world so that you see you're not alone, but more important than ever to personally go out and do things that challenge you in realtime and develop actual relationships where you can't edit your responses. (Full disclosure: This interview was via email, and totally edited, over and over...)
You've always had a theme of confidence in one's own skills and personality (e.g., "Gotta Be Me," "Gotta Be You") -- would you describe that interest as a lifelong passion, or something that's blossomed as you've recorded music for families?
That's my superpower. My radioactive spider bite was being a weirdo as a kid, and my belief in the power of uniqueness and my love for the unexpected are my mutations. An oyster gets a tiny piece of sand in it, and man, imagine a sharp piece of sand in your soft side, beyond the shell! So it works on it for years and covers it with layers of smoothness, to make it feel better. And it just so happens that that effort becomes beautiful and valuable to others as a pearl. Metaphorically, as a pearl of wisdom, maybe.
The mythic journey from outcast to king is resonant, especially in a society where most people feel they lack normality, even if it's still underground. So I'm dedicated to that story because I think it's transformative, and especially when you hear it in a volatile time in your life, like childhood, teenage years, or becoming a new parent!
Was there anything different about writing and recording The Perfect Quirk from your prior albums?
My daughter, Saki aka MC Fireworks, has finally grown past the age where she can personally be the main muse, so for this album my inspiration came from all my experiences through the years as a parent and a kid. I think that created more songs that apply to different ages on the same album, as opposed to letting the target audience grow in tandem with Saki, as I did on the first three albums. Although she's still on the album more than ever and more amazing than ever.
What made you want to write a book?
Cause I'm a writer! Kids' books are basically long songs if they rhyme and short stories if they don't. This one I wanted to write because I know an awesome artist named Stu Helm, who was obviously put on earth to do this sort of thing. Also because I want to create an experience for as many senses as possible. Here, you can read, look at fresh art and listen to the whole thing as a hip hop/funk track, a bluegrass song or a bedtime story. You can even rap or sing with the karaoke versions. That's interactive, man! Even at your own house.
What did you learn in writing Weirdo Calhoun and the Odd Men Out?
That publishing deals are hard to get! Seriously, though, mostly I learned that expanding your creativity into new shapes and mediums feels awesome, and that there's never enough good, weird art in the world. Also, I'm reminded how much I love collaborations. This project involves me, three bands, a DJ, an illustrator, and my publisher. And I'm really, really stoked that families will be reading this in that magical time of evening that's half awake, half dream. That's a pretty honored and influential time to be sharing art with growing minds.
Now that you've crossed "write book" off your bucket list, what's the next thing you've never done artistically that you'd like to tackle?
Produce other bands, write novels, create TV shows, produce soundtracks, write movie scripts, paint with acrylics, and possibly learning to do professional grade fireworks shows, bonsai and skywriting.
Those of us who review kids music talk about the importance of getting kids to see live music. For all the work I put in reviewing albums from across the country, the connection with kids isn't made through the CD player in the minivan or the family iDevice, but through the shared musical experience of a concert.
Maybe it's because the live experience is so transformative that explains why there are so few live albums in the kindie genre and those that do exist, either on album or on DVD, don't fully capture the energy and joy from seeing a live act.
I can't say that Secret Agent 23 Skidoo's live album, the just-released Live at the Orange Peel, is the album that totally breaks free of those constraints. But it is a lively survey of the undisputed king of kid-hop's first three albums. Featuring ten songs evenly split among his first three albums (including some tracks like "Time Flies" that only appear on some versions of the albums), Skidoo and his band of co-conspirators show in 40 minutes why he's a popular act with family audience. Returning to Asheville, North Carolina, where he got his start, his family, including his daughter Saki (A.K.A. MC Fireworks), and Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band provide the full musical experience that help set Skidoo apart from other kid-hop acts ("Magic Beans" sounds particularly good). The songs aren't massively different in production on stage than on record, but hearing Skidoo (and Saki and the others) rap live does give it a little different feel.
I would rather see Secret Agent 23 Skidoo live with my family than listen to Live at the Orange Peel. But that's no knock on the new album - more so than many live kindie records, this one feels like it's its own creature rather than a pale document. Skidoo fans will be pleased; newcomers could do worse for an introduction. Definitely recommended.
Many years ago, I started a series called "How I Got Here," which was my attempt to get kids musicians to talk in their own words about albums that influenced them as musicians.
Well, calling it a series was generous, because it consisted of exactly one entry.
But it's time to make it an actual series, with the next entry (and I promise you won't have to wait another 5 years for the third). It's from the master of words and beats Secret Agent 23 Skidoo. I think Skidoo's most recent album Make Believers is the best in his line of excellent albums for kids, and he's working on a live album for possible release this winter.
Here he writes about A Tribe Called Quest's 1993 album Midnight Marauders...
***
The first time I heard hip hop was at a friend's house, somewhere in the late 80's. We'd spent all day skateboarding and riding his 4 wheeler, and then he busted out the boombox and slid in a tape of RUN DMC. When I left that day, it was with a blown mind and a cassette dub of Beastie Boys' License to Ill, which I would wear down till it broke. These first tastes of rap single handedly moved me beyond Metallica territory and solidly into the land of Public Enemy and N.W.A. in which I would stay for years afterwards, and fully infected my brain, laying the groundwork for who I am today. But above all, I think it was A Tribe Called Quest's 3rd album, Midnight Marauders, that might have taught me the most.
Although many intelligent and artistic rappers have laced many funk fried beats before and after that time, something about that tape and when it came into my life made it become the bedrock of my style. I had to go listen to it again to write this, to figure out why it's such a depth charge to my psyche, and it turns out it has everything I love about hip hop in one neat package. The beats are sharp and full of pocket, right in the 93-99 bpm zone that I love best, and they sample dirty funk and jazz, complete with the crackle and pop of old vinyl heard for the 500th time. Lyrically, the 2 rappers, Phife Dawg and Q-Tip aka The Abstract Poetic, encapsulate everything it means to be an M.C. or Master of Ceremonies.
From the first song, "Steve Biko," it's obvious that these cats love rapping, that the act itself is the most fun to them. You can see them rocking a house party with a crappy plastic mic, in the corner busting freestyles endlessly to the party people, with hilarious punchlines, witty wordplay and perfectly in-the-funk-pocket delivery. By the time they get to "Award Tour," they become the prototype for the Super Emcee, globetrotting the whole planet not based on hype or gimmick, but high level, sophisticated, intellectual lyrics over unpredictable, head knocking beats. Then they flesh out their skills further, using "8 Million Stories" and "Midnight" to show mastery of storytelling, some straight day-in-the-life stuff that pulls you right into their world like a 3 minute documentary with a dope soundtrack.
Later in the album, they get serious on social issues and the state of the culture. These guys tackle topics with skill and intelligence, actually thinking things through instead of going with cliches and easy outs. And even though this is one of the deepest and most complex and artistic rap albums at that time, it never stops being fun.
No matter wether I'm creating for kids or grown ups, Party Rocking, Storytelling and Topic Tracks - these are still the 3 basic categories of songwriting for me. The freestyle feel and pocket flow of Q Tip's delivery is like one of my first teachers, and lives on like a funky ghost in my head, and if any of my beats cause me to screw up my mug into a funk face anywhere near as extreme as I do for some of these tracks, I know I've done right.
That was in the golden age of hip hop, when the most popular groups were also the most intelligent, skilled and unique. I miss those days. But it's nice to see that by that description, this must be the golden age of family music!
