Children's Story Explained

Children's Story
Cover:Slick Rick - Children's Story.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Slick Rick
Album:The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Released:April 4, 1989
Recorded:1988
Genre:Hip hop
Length:4:02
Producer:Slick Rick
Prev Title:Teenage Love
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Hey Young World
Next Year:1989

"Children's Story" is a song recorded by British-American hip hop artist Slick Rick. Taken as the second single from his album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, the song was a Top 5 hit on both the Hot R&B Singles and the Hot Rap Tracks charts. It is one of the most sampled rap songs of all time.[1]

Background

The song interpolates the notes of the bassline from Bob James' song "Nautilus". Throughout the outro, it contains vocal samples from Lyn Collins and James Brown in their song "Think (About It)".

Reception

About.com listed it at 44 on their list of the top 100 rap songs,[2] and is ranked #61 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.[3]

Commercial performance

Children's Story reached 5 in the Hot R&B Singles, staying there for 19 weeks[4] and 2 on the Hot Rap Tracks, remaining on the charts for 11 weeks.[5] This was the best performing single from The Great Adventures of Slick Rick.

Covers, samples and uses in popular culture

Adaptations

On March 21, 2017, it was announced that "Children's Story" was going to be produced into a children's book by Get On Down, a record label based in Boston, Massachusetts. The book was released with a reissue of the album on Record Store Day.[6] [7] [8]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1989)Peak
position
US Billboard Hot Black Singles[9] 5
US Billboard Hot Rap Singles[10] 2
US Billboard Dance Club Songs[11] 39

Notes and References

  1. News: Slick Rick. The Courier-Journal. 2017-07-21. en.
  2. Web site: Top 100 Rap Songs . 2007-11-15 . 2011-08-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110829015358/http://rap.about.com/od/top10songs/ss/Top100RapSongs_6.htm . dead .
  3. http://stereogum.com/24391/vh1s_100_greatest_hiphop_songs/list/ Stereogum: VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs
  4. Web site: Slick Rick - Chart history Billboard. www.billboard.com. en. 2017-07-21.
  5. Web site: Slick Rick - Chart history Billboard. www.billboard.com. en. 2017-07-21.
  6. Web site: Get On Down: Get On Down 2017 Record Store Day Releases! «. getondown.com. en. 2017-07-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20170706062950/https://getondown.com/blog/?p=2814. 2017-07-06. dead.
  7. Web site: Slick Rick's 'Children's Story' Gets Turned Into Kid's Book - XXL. XXL Mag. 22 March 2017 . en-US. 2017-07-21.
  8. Web site: Slick Rick's "Children's Story" Turned Into Actual Children's Book Pitchfork. pitchfork.com. 21 March 2017 . en. 2017-07-21.
  9. Web site: Slick Rick - Billboard Hot Black Singles. Billboard. September 19, 2021.
  10. Web site: Slick Rick - Billboard Hot Rap Singles. Billboard. September 19, 2021.
  11. Web site: Slick Rick - Billboard Dance Club Songs. Billboard. September 19, 2021.