Austin Weekly News:
What started out as whimsical songs to help her 3- year-old son overcome a severe speech delay turned into a collection of educational DVDs that uses hip-hop music to teach early learning concepts.
Oak Park native Candi Carter created It’s Hip Hop, Baby in 2006 using kid-friendly hip-hop beats to help children learn their alphabet, body parts and colors. The DVD, which targets toddlers and preschoolers ages 2 to 6, uses play and music to help children reach developmental milestones like counting to 10 and recognizing animal sounds.
“Everything in the videos are stuff that toddlers need to learn,” said Carter, an Emmy award-winning television producer.
Carter never set out to create an educational DVD. It grew out of necessity. Her son, Emerson, now 5, is developmentally delayed and communicating grew increasingly frustrating for both mother and child.
But when she began drumming out nursery rhymes on her kitchen countertop to hip-hop beats, Emerson responded. Soon her son began recognizing his colors, some numbers and trying to sing his ABCs.
“My son would scream, literally, all day,” Carter recalled. “He would scream, because he was frustrated and couldn’t communicate. The minute I started beat boxing the ABCs … he completely responded. I kept making up songs to help him transition and learn a little bit faster.”
Eventually she amassed a collection of songs about everyday activities like riding the school bus, taking a bath or naptime, which became the soundtrack for the first It’s Hip Hop, Baby DVD. It also included classics like the alphabet song and “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” set to cool hip-hop beats.
Logo from It’s Hip Hop, Baby