Dr Teeth. Photo via YouTube
The Muppets and hip-hop go together like Kermit and Miss Piggy. Like Statler and Waldorf. Like Gonzo and chickens. Exactly why that is, I do not know, but there’s something about those absurdist, self-referencing puppets that proves a fine visual accompaniment to your favourite MC’s rhymes.
Rap-loving YouTuber Mylo The Cat agrees. Having created a series of Muppets golden-age hip-hop mash-up videos, he’s gotten pretty adept at selling Jim Henson’s beloved characters as actual rappers. Plenty of effort seems to go into choosing the right clip before Mylo manipulates the image to perfectly sync up with each lyric for an experience that tickles so many pleasure centres. Here are the best examples.
Yeah baby, Dr Teeth likes it rawwww
Mylo’s latest clip sees Dr Teeth, leader of The Muppets Show‘s in-house band Dr Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, dropping Wu-Tang rapper ODB’s 1995 classic Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ll. Watching Teeth tinkering with the keys works well alongside the track’s distinctive piano riff. Plus, he boasts a mouth full of gold and dope dress sense that would make the man known as Dirt McGirt proud. RIP Ol’ Dirty.
Rowlf the Dog and Miss Piggy are just friends
Rowlf the Dog channels hip-hop’s clown prince Biz Markie and his classic 1989 joint Just A Friend to regale the story of how he stepped to Miss Piggy only to be told of her ‘friend’ on the side. It’s an ice-cold put-down, but Rowlf oughta known that Kermit’s got the hottest girl in the game wearing his chain and bros don’t mess with their bro’s bae.
The Muppets are Naughty By Nature
Kermit and Fozzy team-up for a version of Naughty By Nature’s 1993 anthem Hip-Hop Hooray. Lots of fast cuts imbue this one with the original’s good-time, block-party ethos, until Beaker drops by for a cameo to let us know when it’s time to smooth it out. Because those other two guys have no chill.
The Beastie Muppets
The Swedish Chef, Animal and Beaker don matching outfits to deliver the Beastie Boys’ earth-shaking 1992 single So What’cha Want. It’s actually slightly disconcerting seeing the latter two communicating through fully-functioning sentences given we’re used to hearing Animal’s wild yelps and Beaker speak only through a series of high-pitched “mee-mee-mee” noises. Studio trickery at its finest.
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