The list of crowdfunding posts here is lengthy, and it's about to get even longer. It had seemed to me that the mania for family musicians to fund their projects through sites like Kickstarter had calmed somewhat, but it's started up again with a vengeance, with at least 5 projects worth your time to check out, several of them with hip-hop flair.
First up is Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, who's drumming up support for his third kid-hop album Make Believers. The project just launched, and at the higher funding levels you can get the shirt off Skidoo's back! (OK, not really. Just his coat. Or his hat.) Anyway, here's the video with Skidoo's whole family pitching in.
Kid-hop option #2 is from Boston-based artist RhymeZwell, and it's to fund the filming of a new video for the first single off his upcoming second album Robots on the Dance Floor. And while the implication in his promo video that there's nobody doing kid-hop is, erm, well, see above and below, we'll just chalk that up to the sales pitch. And judging by the concept video's production values (and the song itself), I think the final result may be pretty slick.. Rewards include copies of the album.
Kid-hop #3: Big Don (aka Don Robinson) is an Austin-based hip-hop artist who's raising funds to print and distribute Big Don's Brand New Beat, his second album for kids. (I remember getting a copy of his first album randomly placed in my hands at an Austin City Limits Festival a few years back; it was a lot better than most albums randomly placed in my hands.) As you might expect, rewards include copies of the new album.
Hip-hop not your family's thing? Well, there's more...
Slugs and Bugs -- the duo of Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson -- have released a couple albums of kids' albums with a Christian bent and are looking to release a third. Agnostics and athiests probably won't want to contribute, but families who don't mind the occasional worship song should definitely check it out. Given that ping pong balls were one of the reward categories (sorry, sold out), I think you can get the idea that it's got no small amount of goofiness to go along with its Godliness. And the project's just reached its Kickstarter goal, so you're guaranteed to get your selected reward.
Finally, Portland's Mo Phillips is recording his third family album with fellow Portland artist Johnny Keener and he's reeeeeallly close to hitting the 100%-funded level as well. This is probably my favorite Kickstarter video of all those listed here. Love Phillips' energy here.
