April 04, 2017

Slick Rick's 'Children Story' Video & A Book?

Slick Rick Children's Story 7"

The first single off Slick Rick's classic debut album in 1988, 'The Great Adventures of Slick Rick,' was an influential song in my life called 'Teenage Love.' I ran that song so many times that people wondered if I'd heard the rest of the album. I was 10 years old at the time, but I distinctly remember thinking that 'The Great Adventures of Slick Rick' was a greatest hits album because it had so many hits, lol I purchased it in the Queens Center Mall on cassette, probably overpaid too! Def Jam followed up 'Teenage Love' with 'Children's Story,' 'Hey Young World' and 'Mona Lisa.' The internets say that 'Children's Story' was released on this day in 1989, but unfortunately my memory isn't that good, so I can neither confirm nor deny. It's a good excuse to talk about the record, though, so let's get into it: 'Children's Story' was explained by the man, Bill Adler, as 'a horrifying tale of a couple of stickup kids. Rick frames it as a cozy bedtime tale, as if Dr. Seuss had gone hip-hop.' You could argue Dr. Seuss was hip-hop before hip-hop, but Bill Adler was also spot on when he added 'more happened in one of Rick's songs than occurred in whole albums by other rappers.' Facts!! Now, 'this ain't funny so don't you dare laugh...' but it was recently announced that 'Children's Story' is being turned into a children's book with drawings recapturing the storyline from the song; it will come with a 7" of the song and a CD copy of the album via Get On Down and Def Jam on Record Story Day (4/22/17). Dope! How long has it been since you watched the video? Watch below...