The Cedar Park Center became one huge old-school house party- the biggest ever for Cedar Park Center. The sold out show had people dancing from the floor to the rafters and it was a mega fun sing-along show. For many of us this show reminded us of the good times during high school and college. First boyfriends/girlfriends, parties, drinking, smoking, school dances, break-ups, and fun, fun, fun! It didn’t matter one bit that these artists are in their 40’s and up.
The 1990’s were the Golden Age of Hip Hop. This progressed out of the breakdancing era and long before even Nelly, 50 cent, Eminem, Kanye, Ludacris, or Drake became famous. Read the BET List of top 10 Rappers. Many of these artists came from hard-knock areas of NYC-many from the Bronx and Brooklyn, NY. Many lived rough lives involved in theft, violence, and prison. Isn’t this the rap/hip-hop anthem? The struggle. Lives wasted. Lives lost (many famous rappers died young like The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur). The lyrics all speak a coherent theme. If you like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, or N.W.A. check out the 2015 movie Straight Outta Compton. At the time, they weren’t all gangsta, or thug rappers, so fun rap emerged.
We all somehow remembered the words to every single CherylNSandra (SaltNPepa) song (“Push It”, “Shoop”, “What A Man”and so many more). They also brought their kick-a** dancers and DJ Spinderella (Diedra Roper) and showed off the original bump and grind. This was the true start of today’s twerking. A lot of jiggling, man talk and a whole lotta sex. Personally, I think they could’ve headlined the show (with all due respect, we love Robert Van Winkle too). A fan fave was bringing girls in the crowd on stage during “What A Man”. Vanilla Ice (“Ice Ice Baby”) headlined and looks great, fit-much the same. Tattoo-covered, he still has a youthful energy and looks even 25 years after his hit song debuted. With over 103 million views, the music video is still popular today.
Kid’n Play performed many big songs, including their top hit “Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody”. The Duo rocked it- it suprised me- with high energy dance moves and facial expressions.Watch their old school video Kid’n Play These guys were the early, fun, goofy innocent era showcasing orginal dance styles. They starred in their own cult-ish 1990 movie “House Party” and the playfulness of their songs remind you of the 90’s Will Smith tv show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and the title song ( DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince) produced by the iconic Quincy Jones. The Fresh Prince
Like many artists who had great success early and for many years, they slid into self-destruction but then found a resurrection in recent years as they’ve matured. They’ve shared openly about their mistakes and hard times and what they’ve learned along the way. Look up their documentary “Unsung with Kid’n Play”. Since the opening acts of this long, six -act show had only about 15 minutes to perform, they came out bangin’ with their biggest hits (some wouldn’t leave after their alloted time, so the show ran long). Coolio crushed his big hit “Gangsters Paradise”.
