Krunk Kidz
Black America (don't waste time searching for it on a map) is in mourning. The old folks say death comes in threes & Etta James was the 1st to roll. She was followed hastily by Don Cornelius whose last trip on the Soul Train barely pulled off before Whitney Houston decided to get in on this sangin' & dancin' tour of the heavens. Good Gracious! I'm tired from all the tributes, the heads hung low & the misinformed conversations about drug addiction, mental illness & the power of 1 man to turn a princess into a pipehead. iCant.
Because of the iCant-ness of it all, I'm going to redirect my attention toward the comedic horizon in search of things that make me laugh. Plus I'm sick & I've always heard that laughter is the best medicine. Take a second & join me for my viewing pleasure. Ok...& yours.
As you should know by now, I'm a teacher. So, the 1st thing you need to know is that my STUDENTS put me on to this. I honestly wasn't appropriately disgusted as 1 or many or all of you may think I should be. Inappropriate for 6th graders? Enhh... A 6th grader in my house? Yeah...not so much. But these kids were already on it so I couldn't waste time being mad at that. Instead, I decided to come home & take a deeper look at what was goings on in ya boy's vidjo.
If you wanna check out the original...the rough version to track the progression of the concept, I invite you to do so now.
What got me excited about the boy, Emmanuel Hudson, is that this WHOLE production takes skill. All day we hear about kids who are lazy & ain't 'bout nothin'. Well, I don't know about you, but I see a future videographer or cinematographer. This dude has taken a Jay-Z track & revamped it from top to bottom. That means the dude's got musical skills & got his creative writing on. It might not be the next best short story, but he did his thing on this. He's got characters & voices & a cohesive theme running throughout. Did you see his editing skills? How the boy clapped his clothes on? These young dudes have props, choreography & lightweight doing some relationship commentary. It might not be the kinds of relationships you & I are in, but just be glad you've outgrown this phase (we pray). Dr. Phil, watch ya back.
Some of these videos are over the top but they certainly showcase the creativity we often don't get a chance to see from our children. It excites me & I hope they find positive venues outside of YouTube to get their Issa Rae on & add to the landscape of visual arts. Spike Lee ain't gon' make movies forever & I sho' hope Tyler Perry just finds it in himself to put his dollars behind others who can handle the job better than he can.
Have fun with these dudes. Put a smile on your face. You're welcome.
Watch me move.
Post Script--the discussion about these videos with my 6th graders has led to us exploring storyboarding & script writing so they can create their own video. Now that we've gotten past their hoodtastic lip smacked invitations to other hoods to "throw them hands" (with me guiding them ever so gently toward the ridiculousness of it), they're ready to try their hands at something real. Can't wait to see what they do. & no...more than likely I will NOT be posting it here.
Because of the iCant-ness of it all, I'm going to redirect my attention toward the comedic horizon in search of things that make me laugh. Plus I'm sick & I've always heard that laughter is the best medicine. Take a second & join me for my viewing pleasure. Ok...& yours.
As you should know by now, I'm a teacher. So, the 1st thing you need to know is that my STUDENTS put me on to this. I honestly wasn't appropriately disgusted as 1 or many or all of you may think I should be. Inappropriate for 6th graders? Enhh... A 6th grader in my house? Yeah...not so much. But these kids were already on it so I couldn't waste time being mad at that. Instead, I decided to come home & take a deeper look at what was goings on in ya boy's vidjo.
If you wanna check out the original...the rough version to track the progression of the concept, I invite you to do so now.
What got me excited about the boy, Emmanuel Hudson, is that this WHOLE production takes skill. All day we hear about kids who are lazy & ain't 'bout nothin'. Well, I don't know about you, but I see a future videographer or cinematographer. This dude has taken a Jay-Z track & revamped it from top to bottom. That means the dude's got musical skills & got his creative writing on. It might not be the next best short story, but he did his thing on this. He's got characters & voices & a cohesive theme running throughout. Did you see his editing skills? How the boy clapped his clothes on? These young dudes have props, choreography & lightweight doing some relationship commentary. It might not be the kinds of relationships you & I are in, but just be glad you've outgrown this phase (we pray). Dr. Phil, watch ya back.
Some of these videos are over the top but they certainly showcase the creativity we often don't get a chance to see from our children. It excites me & I hope they find positive venues outside of YouTube to get their Issa Rae on & add to the landscape of visual arts. Spike Lee ain't gon' make movies forever & I sho' hope Tyler Perry just finds it in himself to put his dollars behind others who can handle the job better than he can.
Have fun with these dudes. Put a smile on your face. You're welcome.
Watch me move.
Post Script--the discussion about these videos with my 6th graders has led to us exploring storyboarding & script writing so they can create their own video. Now that we've gotten past their hoodtastic lip smacked invitations to other hoods to "throw them hands" (with me guiding them ever so gently toward the ridiculousness of it), they're ready to try their hands at something real. Can't wait to see what they do. & no...more than likely I will NOT be posting it here.
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