The other day, Josh posted a site that streamed all 90s Nickelodeon programs. While most of the Nicktoons were great, I was also a big fan of the sketch comedy show All That.
This led me down a YouTube rabbit hole that took a turn when musical guest Ice Cube performed “We Be Clubbin'” on the program. That song is not all meant for children’s ears, which reminded me that quite a few song choices on that show were not at all age appropriate. Let’s take a look back at some of the notable ones available online.
1: The Lox – If You Think I’m Jiggy
The Yonkers trio were thrown for a loop when their label insisted they ditch their usual street style for a more commercial appealing sound. Doing a record for Nickelodeon seemed a bit much. Sheek starts off with a kinda entertaining kids edit of his verse, but Styles and Jadakiss either go abruptly silent or spill into inappropriate territory.
My favorite part of the performance was these kids in the audience. So cute.
2: Mase – Feels So Good
Mase had no problem shifting away from his previous gangster persona, however “smoking on drugs” “menages” and “getting brain from girls” don’t seem like topics for the G-rated crowd.
TO continue his kids’ apeal, Mase also did a verse for the Rugrats movie.
3: Nas – Street Dreams (Remix)
At least it’s the “Hey, dealing drugs ain’t all it’s cracked up be” remix and not the mafioso influenced original. There’s skipping right over catching a case, not skipping over waking up in a dry sweat over a potential hit on your life, and censoring R. Kelly singing “gangsta.” Also of note, Jungle is a horrible hypeman.
4: TLC – Creep
This one is a bit surprising, seeing how TLC did the show’s theme song as well as a “What About Your Friends” performance that was pretty tame in the subject matter department. Yet here’s T-Boz justifying to the kids why she creeps around on her man.
5: Aaliyah – Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number
“Age ain’t nothing but a number. Going down ain’t nothing but a thang.”
They changed the most blatant portion a bit (tonight we’re gonna, go “around” the way), but Nickelodeon pretty much aired a song about a teen who wants to bang an older gentleman. That doesn’t even take into account that the song was written and produced by R. Kelly, who allegedly tried to marry Aaliyah when she was 16. It’s just kinda icky all around.
*BONUS* OutKast – Rosa Parks
Really I just wanted to end this on an OutKast song. Big Boi’s bulldogging girls aside, nothing’s too offensive here; even Andre’s wardrobe is relatively tame to some of his other choices at the time.
