Born in the Game ***
On Born in the Game, 10-year-old Quanee Hawkins doesn’t break much new ground in the kiddie-rap genre. Predictably, he raps older than he sounds and boasts about his (still maturing) rhyme skills, celebrity and affinity with the girls. What’s refreshing about Hawkins (who hopes to be a starting point guard on a UNLV national
championship team as well as a platinum artist) is that he doesn’t fully lose his sense of (im)maturity. “I’m Hyper” keeps it real in a way many parents can understand—don’t give the kids too much sugar. The Atlanta-tinged “Boogie Oogie” is bouncy and infectious and could be the theme song and dance for the junior-high set. The ringer among Hawkins’ nine songs is “I’m Sorry,” in which he tells his heartsick mother he wants to live with his father. Powerful stuff.