The media make a big deal about the negative messages rap artists give the youth of today — the blatant profanity, blasphemy, insensitivity, animosity, bigotry and the glamorizing of violence and designer goods, but not enough is made of the positive things these artists do for kids.
One clique who's giving back is Cash Money Records. The label's Web site offers young fans a trio of multimedia games: Cannon Game, Juvenile Game and Concentration.
The object of the Cannon Game is to get Juvenile, Lil Wayne (a.k.a. Weezy Wheat), Turk and B.G. onto an arena stage by shooting them from a cannon. Controls allow you to adjust the cannon's tilt and the amount of gunpowder; additionally, a flapping dollar helps you calculate wind speed. Naturally, Juvenile is the heaviest of the Hot Boys, weighed down by $150-million, a Rolex, two chains and a mouthful of gold teeth. Lil Wayne is lightest, despite $70-million and 18-karat earrings. Kids must be careful in their calculations of required loft. Too little gunpowder for Juveey and he lands in a crowd of chickenheads outside the arena. Too much gunpowder for Weezy and he flies into orbit. You see, the game introduces kids to the principles of physics and fosters an interest in science.
The Juvenile Game begins with an intro movie, Juvenile vs. Crawthra: Battle on the Bayou. Juvenile struts through his hometown, The Big Easy, when Crawthra, a giant crawfish emerges from the mighty Mississippi. Summoning power from his Cash Money chain, Juveey grows to superhuman size. Kids can then fight Crawthra using keyboard controls. All in all, it's a wonderful geography lesson on the city of New Orleans.
Concentration, Cash Money-style, is a cool variation on the timeless card game that improves children's memory. The playing cards are platinum and flip to reveal Hot Boys, a chain and a dollar sign ($). Kids match pairs in as few flips as they can, then try to beat their best score.
If more rappers had Web sites like this, the media might have to look elsewhere for artists to beat up on. Kudos, Cash Money. You ballers are true humanitarians.
—Cooper Cruz
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2002.