
Reggae for Kids ~ www.icecreamsongs.com
They've got faux-hawks, baby Timberlands, and Dinosaur Jr. shirts, so what are you going to do next? Let your kids listen to a CD by that poontang Raffi 400 times before child services has to drag you away in a padded van? Naw, haffi throw that thing in the rubbish, seen? You don't want your pickney indoctrinated into Babylon by way of Bob the Builder and his consumerist agenda. Cho! Dem toddlers dem need more fire than that seen?!
Anyone comfortable with the cooler characters of the Venice Boardwalk knows Lionel Jean Baptiste, who totes an old school red wagon that mashes out massive dancehall hits for children like a sound system truck straight outta Romper Room. With a hardcore vocal style somewhere between Burro Banton, Jr. Demus, and the cast of Sesame Street, backed by angelic female harmonies, one will have him tunes inna your head ALL DAY! We like to discreetly follow him around tuning into, (imagine a gravelly voice and reggae beat) "The itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again..." punctuating his rockstone style with our own "Lawdavmercys," "Ribbits," "Buh-da-bye-bye, buh-da-bye-bye-bye", and scattered gunshot noises.
Really doe, if you or your friend has a little one in their lives, their child needs Lionel's Ice Cream Songs to skank too, parents will be much relieved to toss out John Lithgow's latest buffoonery for a children's album that is actually cool for adults as well. Lionel must be Haitian with the last name Jean Baptiste, though we thought he was Jamaican, as only in Jamaica do we meet big brothers with British names like Aston, Lionel, and Everton. Wherever Lionel comes from, he and is kickass reggae for children are assets to the streets of LA and our city's youth.
Hear samples at Jean's Myspace Page