The Littleague
The Littleague
The Littleague: Press
The Little League
Magic Words
Independent
4.5 out of 5 stars
This is an incredibly smart concept, and in addition to the smarts behind the album it’s also pulled off tremendously well.
The concept is fun, high energy hip-hop geared towards children. The Little League’s mission is to provide “positive, educational and developmentally appropriate messages,” and with this album they’ve succeeded greatly in that.
The Little League was created by educators working with at-risk children, Larry Georgeson, and former Yo Flaco! emcee Neil McIntyre, who found that while hip-hop music speaks to kids, few, if any hip-hop acts were actually geared toward younger listeners.
The real magic on this project from day one, however, has been Georgeson and McIntyre’s ability to write rhymes that sound fun, provide education (everything from the benefits of veggies and saying “Please,” to dental hygiene) without talking down to the young kids they’re trying to reach. There’s nothing fake about this. It’s real hip-hop, but done in a wholesome way that will make parents cool with what their kids are listening to. — Brian F. Johnson
The Littleague Makes Hip-Hop Safe for Kids
Grown-up hip-hop has lost its luster for Neil McIntyre.
By Dave Herrera
Published: April 24, 2008
I love pizza like a fat kid loves cake. So imagine how stoked I was when I heard about "Pizza Party," by Littleague, Neil McIntyre's first post-Yo, Flaco! project.
Come to find out, though, Littleague is like a shindig at Chuck E. Cheese: It's a pizza party, all right, but not one meant for grownups. McIntyre, who teaches early childhood education at Warren Village, came up with the idea with Larry Georgeson, the school's educational director, after they noticed how hyper-sexualized the kids in their charge were. "I can't play KS-107.5 for these little girls," McIntyre explains. "They'll start smacking themselves on the ass and singing about their butts and stuff — and they're five! You know what I mean? They know every word to those songs! They know the ones that they have no business knowing, because their moms and dads all listen to it. Even the edited versions are so inappropriate."
So McIntyre got to work. Enlisting a producer named Improv out of Fort Collins, he wrote a slew of tracks with titles such as "Bug Patrol," "Trip to Sea," "Tooth Decay," "Birthday Bash," "Pizza Party" and "Homemade Haircut," all with the goal of giving the younger set something solid to listen to (mission accomplished, BTW — the beats and rhymes are tight) that's productive rather than destructive. And Georgeson started fashioning an extensive curriculum to go along with each song, incorporating a cast of characters that he and McIntyre created and graf artist Beast brought to life.
"So you hear 'Bug Patrol' one week at school," McIntyre explains, "and then you do a whole week's worth of lessons that tie into bugs and learning to respect living things. Instead of reading the kids a book at the beginning of the week and tying in the lesson, you play the music and then have them actively listen to it and pick it apart with all kinds of activities — math manipulative, fine motor movement, gross motor."
While he didn't create it with this in mind, Littleague may also be the MC's ticket to the big leagues. If a proposed distribution deal goes through, the disc will be available in every early childhood education catalogue. And even if that deal doesn't pan out, it will be available at the Denver Children's Museum, as well as many other children's museums across the country.
"I wish I could tell you that I had this all planned out from the beginning, but I didn't," says McIntyre. "It's just kind of fallen into place. And that's kind of the cool thing: When you do something positive and for the right reasons, it seems like the universe opens its arms to you. It just seems like every potential connection that I've needed has come along and presented itself at the right time. It feels good.
"I've done some research, and there's other people out there doing kids' hip-hop," he adds. "But there's not a lot of good stuff, because the really talented MCs don't want to mess with it, for whatever reason. It's not cool, you know? There's no street cred in it."
So now that he's found this niche, does that mean McIntyre will never again broach adult subjects?
"I'm still going to make my grown-up music," he concludes. "But I feel like, man, I'm just another rapper rapping. The world is full of them. I'm never going to be Rakim. I'm never going to be KRS-One. I'm never going to be Eminem, even. I know I don't want to make pop music if I have to make something that I'm not going to be proud of to do it, you know?"
Music Review
Published January 2009
This hip-hop quintet lays down one high-energy rap track after another, with an inherent cool factor that makes its incredibly wholesome lyrics (songs revolve around lessons like the benefits of vegetables and dental hygiene) sound unquestionably hip. The jazzy beats that back up the Littleague's rhymes give the CD an added boost of grown-up appeal, and many of the songs are flat-out funny. —Ages 4 to 10
Interview with The Littleague
Greenland Live
Published June 2007
Greenland Live:
Describe your artist/band/duo/group. How did you come together?
The Littleague:
Neil McIntyre and Larry Georgeson first met at Warren Village, a 4 Star Qualistar rated and nationally Accredited school in Denver Colorado, which works with at-risk children. Neil a Preschool Teacher and Larry, an Education Director created The Littleague in late 2006 as a way to inspire and engaged children through Hiphop, Jazz and Blues influences.
Greenland Live:
How did you come to be known as The Littleague?
The Littleague:
To make these characters as real as possible to kids, a back-story was created, a whole world that The Littleague live in. The story goes that these 5 kids met at a school talent show where Kiko and Kevin were performing as an Emcee/Deejay act. All five love music and became friends. They began meeting in a shack (The Groove Shack) in Stew’s backyard to make music. But what about a group name? Stew recalled what his older brother, Franky, had told Kiko and Kevin after they performed at the talent show. He said “they would never be as good as his favorite Hiphop act, MC Shine E. Shoes. Shine E. is big league and you guys are just little leaguers.” The 5 took Janky Franky’s negative statement and flipped it into a positive mantra, “We’re the Littleague and we’ve come to overachieve.” Next thing you know their making Hiphop music and because of their time, desire and effort, The Littleague is about to release it first LP!
Greenland Live:
Who and what are your influences?
The Littleague:
Jim Hensen and Hanna-Barbera meets and classic old school Hiphop when it was pure, positive and introspective.
Greenland Live:
How would you describe your audience?
The Littleague:
Our audience is 3 to 99. Many parents have shared stories of listening to The Littleague in their car, even when their children are not with them.
Greenland Live:
What are your goals as a group?
The Littleague:
• To give parents and educators tools to incorporate Littleague songs into their child’s learning through curriculum integration concepts for songs such as Trip to the Sea, Bug Patrol, Pizza Party, Move it or Lose it, Snow Day, The Great Outdoors and many others.
• To educate children and parents about Hiphop's roots and the 5 elements of Hiphop.
Greenland Live:
What drives your music?
The Littleague:
The desire to improve children's social, emotional and educational opportunities through positive, self esteem building and developmentally appropriate Hiphop music.
Greenland Live:
What message/s are you delivering to the world?
The Littleague:
That Hiphop can be a positive force in children's lives if approached in a positive way. We want children to know about Slick Rick and what affect he has had on the evolution of Hiphop with out subjecting children to Slick Rick’s “Treat em’ like a prostitute”. By giving kids an avenue to be a positive part of Hiphop through its 5 elements, we empower them to be the best world citizens they can be.
And by using Hiphop music as a tool to engage kids in a variety of developmental areas including Music and Movement, Language and Literacy, Science and Math, The Earth and Environment and Personal Health and Safety it enables them to be more successful and efficient learners.
Greenland Live:
What does your latest album portray?
The Littleague:
Ideas that fascinate and spark children’s imagination.
Greenland Live:
What roles do each member of the band act out/play?
The Littleague:
Neil McIntyre brings the characters to life through his award winning song writing, wide vocal range and outstanding Emcee skills.
Larry Georgeson ensures that The Littleague’s message is always educationally and developmentally sound.
Jared (Improv) Collett creates the beats and produces the music with the assistance of Neil and Larry.
Jim Stigall creates the art which brings The Littleague to life.
Greenland Live:
Describe a defining moment for your band.
The Littleague:
One day on a bus trip, the kids stopped asking to listen to the local Hiphop radio station and started chanting “WE WANT THE LITTLEAGUE” over and over again. Right then we knew we had created something very special. To get the whole story of The Littleague go to www.thelittleague.com
Speaking of The Littleague Music Project, "That's dope...it's nice to see someone excecute that particular concept and have the music be good as well...you sir, are the man!"