Here we go!
Slick Rick ~ “Children’s Story” (1988)
Lyrics: https://genius.com/Slick-rick-childrens-story-lyrics
“Once upon a time not long ago
When people wore pajamas and lived life slow”
I’m not sure if I am just hypersensitized rn, or if it’s a boomerang effect, or just a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same but that line hits deep.
There is so much to unpack about this track.
Slick Rick is definitely one of the best story rappers of all time, and “Children’s Story” is justifiably sampled/covered and referenced 30+ years later, but the track is a story about looting and shooting presented as a Children’s story. Sure it’s a cautionary tale about the downward spiral that can result from making bad decisions, but how many 4 year olds need to be scared straight? Then in 1990, Rick the Ruler gets arrested and goes to prison for attempted murder of his cousin (although he claimed it was self defense). After MC Ricky D was released from prison in 1997 he spent the next 21 years in jail or fighting deportation because he was a foreign national (British) with an attempted murder rap on his record.
“And this is the way I have to end this story”
Unlike “Children’s Story”, Slick Rick’s story has a happier ending. Besides making dope music, influencing rappers for decades, and having his tracks sampled.In 2008, David Paterson (then the Governor of New York) gave MC Ricky D a full and unconditional pardon for the attempted murder charges. Then in 2016 Slick Rick became a US Citizen.
“Knock him out the box, Rick!”
*Technically it’s a replay not a sample, because Slick Rick played the baseline riff on a keyboard. Here’s Bob James listening to Children’s Story and talking about artists sampling him
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slick_Rick
https://www.slickrickisart.com/
https://www.instagram.com/therulernyc/
https://twitter.com/therulernyc
