This week we take a bit of a different direction but I promise you it’s worth it…check out Youtube sensation DeStorm‘s renditions of all your favorite kiddie shows, sung as an acapella group comprised solely of himself.

Not weird enough? Okay, here you go.  Have a nice weekend.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s spooky how much P-Funk was blasting in our house the days leading up to Starchild’s passing. The sound that he helped develop has been playing such a huge role in our music for iB4the1.2, from Dahlak’s productions to our vocal arrangements. Although the funk blogs have been buzzing around the news, hip-hop’s remained silent for the most part. Certainly, Garry Shider wasn’t a household name – but his work shifted our culture.

One of the reasons we’re so inspired by P-Funk is because they’ve remained true to their narrative.  As iLL-Literacy meanders from spoken word to hip-hop to funk, the key constant element is storytelling – to speak on real shit while daring to imagine.  Starchild is a central character to the P-Funk universe.  He defended humankind from Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk!  If George Clinton is Goku, then Starchild was Vegeta.  And I am obviously a nerd.

The above video is “Placebo Like a Mug,” the animated featurette that played in the beginning for Parliament Funkadelic’s early live shows.  Acclimate yourself to the story and the music.  It’s a beautiful thing.  Long live Starchild.

In 2000 we were introduced to Static Shock, the new millennium’s first stab at an “urban” superhero cartoon.  He dealt with “urban” dilemmas like evil record companies and buses taking too long.  While it garnered some attention in the hip-hop market, I never heard too much more about it.  Alas, here’s the first (and one of the only) episodes I watched.  Did I miss something epic?  Or just another coy marketing ploy?

There’s a pretty good chance that I’m going to end up turning Saturday Morning Cartoon into Saturday Morning Yo Gabba Gabba.  It’s the best thing on earth right now.

Glory and light to you, dear internetlings.  I hope your Fridays were filled with cartoon birds and only seldom visits from the hangover fairy.  I, for one, have been thoroughly enjoying the human scenery here in Los Angeles.  Ah yes, as committed as I am to the Bay, the southern territory does have some magic to it.  Yesterday I popped in Gorillaz‘s Plastic Beach for the first time, which sounds extra delightful when armed with California’s best of confections and a stroll down Sunset Blvd..  I’ve always admired Gorillaz for their ability to push the boundaries of music while carrying on an interesting and original narrative.  Above is “Clint Eastwood,” Gorillaz’s first video from back in the day, and the world’s first taste of rock and roll’s favorite animated band.

Yoooooo we just finished an increeeedible show last night at Columbia College, despite Nico getting food poisoning and having to sit out in the hotel Even still, his spirit was with us, as well as chunks of food on Dari’s Marc Jacobs hoodie.  And speaking of hoods, this Saturday Morning I bring you the wonderful short-lived claymation extravaganza known as The PJ’s, which came on to our welcome surprise at the telly in Ohio.  With Eddie Murphy doing voiceovers, George Clinton on the theme song, and co-production by Ron Howard (culprit of my favorite show ever, Arrested Development), there’s nothing to not love.

This Saturday morning as we crawl into the early North Carolina morning and the sun shines down on us, only one thing comes to mind.  GARGOYLES!! At least that’s where Nico’s mind is.  And who can blame him?  Who can resist those cartoons with hottie racially ambiguous lady main characters?  Oh, Elisa Maza, you Latina/Asian/Native American/part-black temptress of animation…only your hair is black as ink.  And I love ink.

This Saturday morning I take you deeeeep.  Deeper than deep.  From out the archives I present to you Wish Kid, a cartoon that lasted all of 1 season, and that is so obscure the only full episode I could find on the YouTubes is in Spanish!  But since brown people are going to take over the world anyway, this is a great opportunity for you to brush up on your Mexicanese. Wish Kid was about a kid who could make wishes (they really didn’t waste any time on elusions in the early 90′s) through a baseball glove that was struck by a shooting star.  Capitalizing on his Home Alone (and possibly The Good Son?) hype, the show was really just a poor excuse to inject more Macaulay Culkin into the vein of America (and Central America, apparently).  (Un)fortunately for us, neither the preview above or the dubbed episode after the jump grace us with the big Mac’s actual voice.  And so to compensate, here’s the scream that earned him the big bucks and that skyrocketed him into the master thespian he is today. Gotta love the internets for this one:

Hit below for your full episode of Perdido nas Estrelas.

Ahhhhh, to be home again!  What a life we lead…when we’re at home we itch to be on the road, and when we’re on the road, we just long for our own beds.  So as I sit in the living room watching Curb Your Enthusiasm (it’s like Seinfeld except balder and funnier!) I’m reminded of another skinny figure known for constantly dealing with other-worldly conflicts…except he always seemed to keep his cool.  Yes, I speak of my dude Gumby.  And besides remaining as our most beloved claymation character, who can really hate on someone who inspired the best 90′s haircut ever?  Rock with it, baby.

Ahhhhhh.  Nothing says Saturday Morning like a film about a dystopian society.  I know I don’t geek out often* so you might be surprised to find out that in middle school and high school, I was quite the anime head.  It’s true…who would’ve thought?  The guy with this passport photo was into anime.

Yes, I know.  It’s a mix between Goku and Doug E. Doug.  That’s exactly what I was going for.  Watch Akira above, dammit!  The entire film’s on the YouTubes.  And then watch this live-action rendition of it, because it’s very dope.

Via Nerdwithswag