I know what you're thinking -- "Dane, the new Kendrick Lamar album came out less than two weeks ago, how the heck are you writing about anything but that??" On our latest Staff Inspection, I was very candid about the album, that I feel it is entirely too large to synthesize only a few days after initially hearing. I'm still working through thoughts and feelings about Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.
So, in the meantime, here's some more Kidz Bop. I have a lot to say about this one.
In my last and inaugural "It's a Bop" column, I asked readers to comment their favorite in the series and how to pursue reviewing these albums (i.e., in what order). I received no help, and instead I was asked, "is there a 10/10 Kidz Bop album?" I have no clue, but we're going to find out together the hard way.
To save myself a headache, I'm reviewing these albums in chronological order, so here we go with Kidz Bop 2, and I'd make an "Electric Boogaloo" joke, but I don't want our website to get put on some terrorist watchlist.
Similar to the first installment in this mess of a family friendly greatest-hits redux series, Kidz Bop 2 takes everything good about some really great songs and makes sure you'll never hear them the same way again. "Kryptonite," which is my personal favorite of the Superman-themed songs out there, is a travesty. It's a guttural rocker reduced to ashes, not even by the children, mostly by the lack of any emotion in the backing band.
I couldn't even listen to their rendention of Usher's "U Remind Me" past the very uncomfortable interpretation of Usher's sultry intro. Which is quickly followed by the god-awful "Turn Off the Light"'s hee-haws which are unbelievably hilarious. I had to double check the original, for hee-haws, and I guess my brain just blocked that from my memory. Why, Nelly Furtado, why?
"I'm Real" is of course a reinterpretation (and I use that word lightly) of Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule's huge hit. It's the first rap-adjacent song on a Kidz Bop Kids album yet, and the first real time they've had to edit some lyrics. I implore you to compare these versions side by side if you are in need of a laugh.
Perhaps the most impassioned performance comes from the 40-year-old who easily smokes four packs a day on "Hanging By a Moment" a cover of a Lifehouse song that I enjoyed in my youthful innocence. He was clearly trying to land a record deal by accident.
Going off of these first two Kidz Bop Kids albums, it seems like they were under a contract to include a Smash Mouth song on every upcoming installation. This one features "I'm A Believer," which was also on the impeccable Shrek soundtrack. I will be honest, I skipped a lot of songs after the first chorus (see "Hero"), but accidentally found myself listening to all of this one. Whoops.
I'd say this one is pretty on-par with Kidz Bop the senior, so I'll give it another 2/10. It's early on in the series, there's a lot of rinsing and repeating happening with this formulaic serial, as to be expected when you're establishing a solid fanbase. For now, we'll take Hunter's word that Kidz Bop 8 is an improvement.
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