When Old School Hip Hop Meets 60s Sit-Com Theme Songs: The Genius Of Dimples D’s “Sucker DJ” (Ben Liebrand remix)

There was something so charming about Dimples D when this new “I Dream Of Jeanie”-ised version emerged on the charts late in 1990.  By 1990 it had been well established what rap was about: rap was all about being tough and having attitude.  Or, when it blurred into pop, pretending to be tough and have attitude (Will Smith, or The Fresh Prince as he was known then, being the exception that proves the rule).  Even MC Hammer tried to be tough and have attitude.  The toughest thing on “Sucker DJ” was “are you ready to kick some ASS?”, a question that seemed a little ironic on a record that, for all of its style and charms and let-me-go-ons, is not particularly ass-kicking.

But “Sucker DJ” belonged to a different time.  It was originally from 1983, when rap music was kind of cute.  It was after all the year of “(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew” and Malcolm McLaren’s “Duck Rock” album.

It’s was a bit of a cult hit at the time, notable for three things. 

1)      Being Marley Marl’s first production.  And let’s be honest, the record is pretty much just an advertising jingle for his services. Because Marley Marl is one hell of a man.  He’d end up being something of a big deal in hip-hop history.

2)      Being an answer record to Run DMC’s “Sucker MCs”

3)      Having a female rapper, back when that was an virtually unknown thing to be.  When Dimples D claims that there’s “no female in the world who can rap like me” it’s probably because were simply no other female rappers outside of the girl in The Rock Steady Crew.  Roxanne Shante’s “Roxanne’s Revenge” (often cited as milestone in the history of female rapping, and which would also be produced by Marley Marl, who obviously had a thing for female rappers) was still a year away.

But it didn’t make the charts or anything.

 Here it is.  Warning: all that scratching might make you itch.  There are also a lot of bombs going off, particularly during the bit where she’s rapping about cocaine dealers and life in the hood, which reduces the cute-ness factor a tad.

A lot had changed in the decade between the two versions.  There were now (slightly) more female rappers,  and “Sucker DJ” could now be heard in a post-Salt’n’Pepa, post-Neneh Cherry, post-Queen Latifah, post-MC Lyte, post-Betty Boo landscape.  Each of whom had spent a lot of energy demonstrating how tough they were: Salt’n’Pepa vetting each of the kids who danced to “Push It” to ensure that only sexy people danced to the record, and sure, the video of Betty Boo’s “Where Are You Baby?” is the cutest thing ever…

But she could also spit out an attitude filled rhyme like “someone like you puts me off my food,” which seemed pretty badass for a girl dressed up as a cartoon character. 

Dimples D on the other hand likes to rap about her dimples, and she wore an adorable little hat…

… and was pretty much the cutest rapper imaginable.  Although purely in a “cute little puppy dog” sense.  Particularly when she was rapping over the top of an “I Dream Of Jeanie” sample.  There was already a record on the pop charts based on the “Thunderbirds” so it was only a matter of time, but the choice of “I Dream Of Jeanie”  is still welcome and not only because Jeanie was the sexual awakening of a large proportion of at least two generations.

Now the main difference between the two versions (other than the “I Dream Of Jeanie” sample of course) is that lack of the final chorus, all about that favourite of chick-hop topics: how men are all players.  And the bit in the original where she raps really fast about cocaine dealers and penicillin is (to quote pretty much every lyrics website) “With the… (unintelligible).”  I guess rapping about the reality of life in the ‘hood doesn’t quite meld with 60s sit-com theme songs.

The result of all of this was so much fun that it hit the Number One possie in Australia!  And a decent sized hit all over Europe.

So mad props to everyone.  Mad props to Dimples D.  Mad props to Marley Marl.  And maddest props to Dutch DJ/remixer Ben Liebrand, who came up with the whole “I Dream Of Jeanie” thing and would be responsible for virtually every chart topping cheesy remix of an old tune around that time. That remix of Ram Jam’s “Black Betty” that made the charts in 1990?  That was him!   The remix of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons’ “December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)” that seemed to be playing everywhere?  You know it.