Hip-Hop artists for kids....

[Rip_Some_Lip]

My 8 yr old wants to get an mp3 player and load it up with hip-hop. I don't listen to it myself so I don't know any artists. What I don't want is to buy some gangster rap that is loaded with foul language. Does anyone have any suggestions that would be suitable for young kids. I have some Kid Rock but most of that is off limits for him...lol.

[hartner62]

Vanilla Ice.

[Scott M]

Will Smith "Big Willie Style" is all that rolls off my brain. Gotta find stuff that is edited otherwise, and even then the cleaned up versions have big holes where not too long after 8 years of age the kid is going to know what fills in the blanks.

[zamboni]

I agree with Da Chise- Will Smith or even his earlier stuff DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince has always been pretty tame stuff.

[Central Bassman]

LOL yea that is a really tough deal, There are some good artist like Young Jeezy, Nelly, Puff Daddy but a lot of it isn't the cleanest!!

[snoozebutton]

Just get him some Merle Haggard or George Jones, he'll thank you for it when he gets older.

[Gissert]

Shadd Rapp----

Several guys from Wisconson have redone rap and pop songs with lyrics about hunting and fishing.

My 7 year old will run around the house singing "Heeyyyy, we want some craaappppieeeee!"

[snoozebutton]

Gotta love their song "Ice Fish Baby."

[basssmasher*]

Try Toby Mac, he is originally from the group DC Talk, but has gone solo.. Hip hop music with the RIGHT MESSAGES!

[PierBridge]

Unlucky Buck "shad rapp" is a must have!

[zamboni]

I have heard PierBridge raps the blues Volumes 1&2, I wasn't impressed

[Sandmannd]

Download some Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Eagles, Foghat, get him into the classics and forget the other junk.

[Swill]

disney has music cd's sung by kids, that are clean, and the popular songs. They are kind of cool...

[McGurk]

Lupe Fiasco, smart young kid that has a positive message without getting all gospel. Plus, good beats. Beastie Boys? Somewhat political but not too vile.

[Swill]

50 cent! Great for kids!

[Bigslugger]

M C Hammer!

[Windy City]

50 Cent? In todays world you have to go at least a buck for the kids. What can they buy for 50 Cent? I don't think they could even buy a Hammer for 50 Cent! LOL

[paceman]

Miley Cirus has some rocking good tunes. At least my 7 year old thinks so....

[Jari Razskazoff]

You're kids just probably gonna go to a friends house and download the "gangsta" stuff anyways, so... you can try, but those sneaky lil' kids (like i was) are gonna get the music they want, one way or another...

I remember, my first tape was Ice-T, the Iceberg... and the intro skit was of a bunch of gangsters torturing someone by drilling in to someones head... with all the squishy sounds to boot. My dad bought it for me, because when I was young (and i'll admit even now) i was interested in rap... before we could get past the intro, he confiscated it, and said I couldn't listen to it till I was 13... well, I found it, and EVERY time he wasn't around I would listen to it. (I don't think I even liked it that much, but I felt like such a badboy rebelling against my dad)...

I don't really remember that tape too much, but I'll always remember how much I enjoyed, and still enjoy listening to Bob Marley's Legend album, and thank my dad for bringing that tape home.

Bob Marley's Legend album is full of good music, and in my opinion, older reggae can quiet the rebelious beast inside a kid without getting all gangsta, or marilyn manson like... you know?

So, Good luck...

I do believe that Walmart does not sell profanity laced music, but i might be wrong.

[Swill]

second Jari. I also remember my first rap tapes / cds..

NWA, Easy E, Public Enemy, Too Short, 2 Live Crew, Ice-T, House of Pain,

Mom was not impressed with the album cover of 2 live crew. Thank god she never listed to it!

[Burnham]

i used to listen to a lot of rap, now ive upgraded to country lol...anyways if you wouldnt mind gospel filled stuff try Lecrae, its christian rap, but he is one of the VERY few christian rappers that still are as good as the regular guys..his music has a gangster feel, or sound to it(if thats what he likes) but has VERY good, meaningful lyrics

[zamboni]

RUN-DMC stuff is pretty tame, and good.

[Rip_Some_Lip]

Thanks for all the suggestions. He is using my wife's mp3 player since she doesn't use it much. I loaded up some kid rock for him but he is also into rock. I heard him singing some Godsmack and a few other rock songs the other day, so hopefully he leans toward that instead of rap...lol. I got a chuckle the other day when I walked in and he was playing PS2 standing up while dancing to the rap song playing on ATV Fury 2.

[Far-I]

Atmosphere isn't too vulgar. A little, but its good ol' minnesota hip-hop.

[irvingdog]

Wow! Atmosphere is VERY much profane. Suicide. Prostitution. Drug and alcohol abuse. It's super heavy stuff.

Some of the most brilliant stuff I've ever heard, but way to dark for a kid.