Hot Cheetos and Takis: Implications of music and family

Get to know the people behind the production in this interview by The FADER.

If you haven't seen the recent buzz about the Hot Cheetos & Takis video (above), and the kids of the Minneapolis North Community YMCA extracurricular rap class Beats & Rhymes, known as Y.N.RichKids, you have missed out on a lot. These aren't just cute kids with a professional music production and a few videos. These kids have, in this parent's opinion, embodied the potential of music to be more than just background noise for kids. In a music market overrun by adult themes, it is the non-profit programs that have been instrumental in developing child-level music appreciation without the degradation of their status in society.

What does that mean? I mean to have you watch the video, the rest of the videos on their web site, and consider what they could be rapping about. The most controversial song I've heard so far on the free downloads (that's right, FREE) of music from Y.N.RichKids is "G.F." on the School House Rap album, about a boy seeing a pretty girl and wanting her to be his girl. Compared to what that could be, the spectrum of lyrics that could go along with a more adult subject like relationships, the song is more middle school "like" than the complexity of "love". In all, I am very impressed with the lyric choices, the subject matter and the professional polish of the music this program is producing. It's something I am not ashamed of letting my kids listen to.

Now, in full disclosure, rap is not generally the favorite of our family. I grew up with rap and hip hop in the 80s and 90s, but my tastes turned to guitar-related music as I was learning guitar and rock myself. Morgan has always been more into pop, country, rock and punk. The kids vary from pop music to tweenpop, though each has their own personal taste (Aiden loves rock and punk, Alayna is more into tweenpop like Sabrina Gomez and Demi Levato, Brooklyn likes pop like Bruno Mars, and Bella likes classic rock). However, it's not like they haven't heard rap and hip hop before. I listen to crossover hip hop and spoken word, like The Roots, Flobots, Scroobius Pip, KRS-One, or crossover beats like Portishead and Massive Attack, something with a message that doesn't include being a thug. Fooling yourself into complacency by rapping about how horrible of a human you can be is just not something I care about, nor is it something my kids should be interested in.

There are some exceptions. I've always been impressed with Eminem, Jay-Z and many of the rappers that came from the 80s. Maybe that's why I like Y.N.RichKids. It reminds me more of that old school sound and cadence, but with more contemporary producing quality.

We need more of this in the mainstream. Where are the record deals for the kid-friendly artists? Sure, the Aquabats have a TV show, but you don't hear them on any mainstream radio. The general public likes controversial. It sells. Meat dresses and naked wrecking ball videos are what sell music to adults that have money.

I haven't bought music in a long, long time. I don't download it illegally either. As I said in a previous post, there is plenty to hear on free radio and public downloads. And as my economic status improves, I'm not adverse to buying a song on iTunes or Google Play if it's something I really like. But album-based consumerism is dying. I'm more likely to find what I want on Pandora or iTunes Radio and then go out and buy it because I want to add it to a collection. And I am adding Y.N.RichKids to that collection.

Aiden is learning trombone, for what reason I still have not worked out. We showed him a video of Mighty Mighty Boss Tones as an example of what that could mean to him as an artist (incidentally, the guy playing trombone in that band is black, like the trombone player included in The Roots touring team). If he wants to try to create something, a recording perhaps, with that instrument, I can work out a hip hop style song on open source software and let him write it himself, using his trombone as a melody.

This is a true implication of what music could be for a family, an expressive channel without the adulthood if needed. Some kids have been through more, and maybe want to express that through song. That is completely fine, as long as the family considers what public performance of such songs can cause, the consequences, both good like support and bad like ridicule, that would occur from such promotion. But include music in your child's life, and do it early. Not just Elmo or nursery rhymes, but real music like Y.N.RichKids, Aquabats, or someone Greasy Kid Stuff plays on their radio show.

Join us as a family enjoying music. As a family.

The moral dilemma of SSI

Morgan and I are discussing applying for SSI for Alayna. She had it when she was a toddler because of her eyesight, which helped with the process of going to appointments and affording special food due to her developmental delays. She became ineligible because it was not pursued later. There were issues with the need for SSI that we won't go into in this post. Things have changed, and with multiple specialists being sought to make a go at resolving some of the gait and developmental issues it becomes clear that we are less able to afford the cost involved.

But we had struggled with deciding to apply for SSI. And it's a decision many parents struggle with while others just assume as a correct decision.

Our family is pretty conservative. I don't require the government to give me anything, in my opinion. A good example is that, if markets were better and unemployment was lower, many people could probably live without SNAP benefits, or food stamps. Because SNAP revenue generated from low-to-no-income families affects positively on companies like Walmart and, locally, Winco Foods, these companies have higher demand for relatively cheap prices. Thus, they have the potential to increase prices to improve their profit. However, taking away food stamps could lower demand for higher-priced foods, which would drop the cost of those foods to compensate for the market's decline. In essence, the market would adjust, and we could see an overall drop in cost of living. I could probably afford cheap food and survive without food stamps, but it does help to have those available when you really need it, like when you're paying a large percentage of your income to paying back school loans but don't have the employability to afford the added costs.

Note: I am not an economics major, I just took economics in college. Don't quote me or anyone else who analyzes this kind of change, because the modern economy can wield surprising results, as we've seen in almost every standard in the last decade.

SSI is similar, where I don't believe in just getting the extra income because you can. If you live frugally and can afford to do it on your own, you should attempt to do so.

For some, SSI is almost a right, like getting a paycheck for dealing with your disabled child. The connotation can be overwhelming and affect judgement. I have personally known and witnessed families, both in previous jobs and socially, that have used the fact that their kids have some sort of delay or disability to either afford frivolous things or pay their own bills.

I completely acknowledge that having a disabled child has cost involved. I know first hand.

But there are some parents who just apply for SSI to pay their own bills and completely neglect the needs of the child, assuming instead there's nothing to help them and disregarding the potential of beneficial programs from non-profits and the local and state governments. However, I believe this is a minority.

The truth is that there are plenty of reasons to have SSI, some that are not so obvious as affording some sort of monthly nurse aid or similar direct costs. For instance, a child with autism that does not need specialist care but cannot be put in child care due to local childcare options being inadequate or unequipped to meet the attention needs of the child may require the parent to reduce the hours available to work. This would be indirect cost, and would be reasonable facts to support applying for SSI.

However, a child with mental deficiencies that just socially likes their parents and the parent would rather just be at home with the child is not necessarily a reason to ask for SSI. Parental preference, in the arena of public funds, is tough to use as a basis of eligibility. How do you tell two parents that the one who just wants to stay home with the child has the same eligibility as the other who has to stay home for the child's safety?

The moral dilemma stems from whether you're applying for SSI for personal, or personal finance, reasons or if you are going to use the money for your child. It's an honest question that anyone applying for SSI should ask. You may think it's obvious, but there are times that it's tempting to say, "Well, this way I can afford to buy my kid a tablet for education," but really want the tablet for yourself. 

The best way to resolve the dilemma is to make sure you have attempted everything you can to afford the things you need for your child, from looking for cheap deals to non-profits who offer local programs, before accepting SSI. You can also verify you would need the SSI as a basis for decisions elsewhere in treatments. You will feel better about your decision and have a better idea of how to use your SSI benefit effectively for your child.