{{short description|1989 single by Slick Rick}} {{distinguish|The Children's Story{{!}}''The Children's Story''|A Children's Story{{!}}''A Children's Story''|The Children's Hour (play){{!}}''The Children's Hour'' (play)}} {{Infobox song | name = Children's Story | cover = Slick Rick - Children's Story.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Slick Rick | album = The Great Adventures of Slick Rick | released = {{start date|1989|4|4}} | recorded = 1988 | studio = | venue = | genre = Hip hop | length = 4:02 | label = {{hlist|Def Jam|Columbia}} | writer = Ricky Walters | producer = Slick Rick | prev_title = Teenage Love | prev_year = 1988 | next_title = Hey Young World | next_year = 1989 | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|HjNTu8jdukA|"Children's Story"}}}} }}
"'''Children's Story'''" is a song by British-American rapper Slick Rick, released on April 4, 1989 by Def Jam and Columbia as the second single from his debut album ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick'' (1989). The song, written by Rick, tells a cautionary tale warning about the dangers of a life of crime.
The most successful single of ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick'', "Children's Story" was a top-five hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot Black Singles and Hot Rap Singles charts, staying on the former chart for nineteen weeks and the latter for eleven. The song was also critically acclaimed, with reviewers praising its storytelling and musical tone. Since its release, it has become one of the most sampled rap songs of all time.
== Composition, production, and release == "Children's Story" uses a piano interpolation of the bassline of Bob James' 1974 instrumental "Nautilus".<ref name="RollingStone" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Patrin |first1=Nate |title=Breaks With Tradition: Nautilus |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2023754/bob-james-nautilus-samples/columns/breaks-with-tradition/ |access-date=23 July 2025 |work=Stereogum |date=26 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref> In a 2018 interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Rick stated that he chose to interpolate the song due to its "gritty city edge", stating: "it was big in urban communities before rap records, right? When they used to have street concerts, picnics, barbecues, whatever when they play outside and stuff like that — like the Cold Crush Brothers, like Flash and them before they made records." After developing the beat, Rick began working on the lyrics.<ref name="RollingStone" /> Originally, the song was about a fairytale, but later in the album's development, Rick changed the subject matter into a cautionary story about criminal behavior.<ref name="udiscover">{{cite news |last1=Merlis |first1=Ben |title='You Have To Win Respect': Slick Rick On Decades Of Great Adventures |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/slick-rick-interview-great-adventures/ |access-date=26 July 2025 |work=uDiscover Music |publisher=Universal Music Group |date=1 November 2022}}</ref>
Although Rick wanted "Children's Story" to be the first single of ''The Great Adventures of Slick Rick'', Def Jam chose to release "Teenage Love" first.<ref name="billboard">{{cite news |last1=Iandoli |first1=Kathy |title=Slick Rick Looks Back at His Three-Decade Legacy Since ‘Great Adventures,’ Hints at New Music on the Way |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/slick-rick-interview-the-great-adventures-of-slick-rick-30th-anniversary-8457038/ |access-date=24 July 2025 |work=Billboard |date=21 May 2018}}</ref> As a result, "Children's Story" was released as the second single from the album on April 4, 1989,<ref name="Albumism" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Eustice |first1=Kyle |title=#ThrowbackThursdays: Slick Rick Releases “Children’s Story” Classic |url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/throwbackthursdays-slick-rick-releases-childrens-story-classic/ |access-date=24 July 2025 |work=HipHopDX |publisher=Uproxx Studios |date=4 April 2019}}</ref> although the original demo of the song was already in rotation on rap/R&B radio stations and MTV prior to its release.<ref name="udiscover" />
== Critical reception == Henry Adaso of ''LiveAbout'' ranked it #44 on his list of the 100 greatest rap songs, stating that it was a "masterfully woven narrative ... by hip-hop's greatest storyteller."<ref name="liveabout">{{cite news |last1=Adaso |first1=Henry |title=The 100 Best Rap Songs Spanning Over 40 Years of the Genre's History |url=https://www.liveabout.com/best-rap-songs-of-all-time-2857834 |access-date=22 July 2025 |work=LiveAbout |publisher=Dotdash Meredith |date=22 April 2006 |language=en |archive-date=28 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428004240/https://www.liveabout.com/best-rap-songs-of-all-time-2857834 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Jesse Ducker, writing for ''Albumism'', stated that the song was "on many a shortlist for greatest hip-hop songs of all time", noting how it was a "classic tale of the perils of getting caught up in the street life", whose musical tone "manages to be both dark and upbeat, making it a timeless club staple".<ref name="Albumism">{{cite news |last1=Ducker |first1=Jesse |title=Slick Rick’s Debut Album ‘The Great Adventures of Slick Rick’ Turns 35 |url=https://albumism.com/features/slick-rick-debut-album-the-great-adventures-of-slick-rick-album-anniversary |access-date=22 July 2025 |work=Album Anniversary |publisher=Albumism |date=28 October 2023}}</ref> Christopher Weingarten of ''Rolling Stone'' called it "the epic yarn that defines storytelling rap," stating that it was "a casually spit tale of cops and robbers, rise and fall, hubris and dread."<ref name="RollingStone">{{cite news |last1=Weingarten |first1=Christopher R. |title=Best of '88: Slick Rick on the Greatest Story Hip-Hop Ever Told |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/best-of-88-slick-rick-childrens-story-758567/ |work=Rolling Stone |date=27 November 2018}}</ref> The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "a violent, clever bedtime tale."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hunt |first1=Dennis |title=Slick Rick: Making Musical Adventures in Rapland |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-13-ca-2816-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=24 July 2025 |date=13 May 1989}}</ref>
== Legacy == === Use in popular culture === * The song is played in the Playback FM station in ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bramwell |first1=Tom |title=GTA: San Andreas soundtrack listing |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/p-sanandreasmusic-ps2 |access-date=25 July 2025 |work=Eurogamer |date=26 October 2004 |language=en}}</ref> * The Star Wars Gangsta Rap by Bentframe references "Knock 'em out the box, Rick" at the end with "Knock 'em out the box, Luke".{{cn|date=August 2025}}
=== Samples and interpolations === * Montell Jordan sampled it for his 1995 song "This Is How We Do It".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitburn |first1=Joel |title=Joel Whitburn Presents Top R&B Singles, 1942-1999 |date=2000 |publisher=Record Research Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0898201369 |page=233}}</ref> Additionally, he utilized altered lyrics of "Children's Story" to more overtly reference the song's origins.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Breihan |first1=Tom |title=The Number Ones: Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2179979/the-number-ones-montell-jordans-this-is-how-we-do-it/columns/the-number-ones/ |access-date=25 July 2025 |work=Stereogum |date=21 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref> * Nas sampled it for his 2019 song "Cops Shot the Kid", which also featured a cameo from Slick Rick himself.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Strauss |first1=Matthew |title=Nas Comments on Police Brutality With New “Cops Shot the Kid” Video: Watch |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/nas-comments-on-police-brutality-with-new-cops-shot-the-kid-video-watch/ |access-date=25 July 2025 |work=Pitchfork |date=7 January 2019}}</ref>
=== Covers and adaptations === * Everlast covered the song for his 2000 album ''Eat at Whitey's''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wartofsky |first1=Alona |title=Everlast & the Everlasting |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/10/25/everlast-38/f1794fa0-7e16-42d4-82d4-0d90c46c9b48/ |access-date=24 July 2025 |work=The Washington Post |date=25 October 2000}}</ref> * Tricky covered the song (with Martina Topley-Bird) as Nearly God for the US release of the 1996 album [https://www.discogs.com/release/67004-Nearly-God-Nearly-God Nearly God].<ref>{{Citation |title=Nearly God - Nearly God |date=1996-08-13 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/67004-Nearly-God-Nearly-God |access-date=2025-10-16 |language=en}}</ref> * Black Star partially adapted it for their 1998 song "Children's Story" * Get On Down, a record label located in Boston, Massachusetts, released an illustrated children's book based on the song alongside a CD and twelve-inch single of the song on Record Store Day 2017.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Scott |first1=Sydney |title=You'll Soon Be Able To Read Slick Rick's 'Children's Story' To Your Little One |url=https://www.essence.com/entertainment/slick-rick-childrens-book/ |access-date=24 July 2025 |work=Essence |date=21 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Paulson |first1=Dave |title=Record Store Day 2017: 10 of the coolest releases |url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/04/17/record-store-day-2017-10-coolest-releases/100567916/ |access-date=24 July 2025 |work=The Tennessean}}</ref>
== Charts == {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! Chart (1989) ! Peak<br/>position |- {{Single chart|Billboardrandbhiphop|5|artist=Slick Rick|rowheader=true}} |- {{Single chart|Billboardrapsongs|2|artist=Slick Rick|rowheader=true}} |- {{Single chart|Billboarddanceclubplay|39|artist=Slick Rick|rowheader=true}} |}
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Slick Rick|title=Children's Story|award=Platinum|relyear=1989|certyear=2025|access-date=October 23, 2025}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true|noshipments=true}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Slick Rick}} {{authority control}}
Category:1989 singles Category:1988 songs Category:Slick Rick songs Category:Columbia Records singles Category:Def Jam Recordings singles Category:Songs written by Slick Rick