Christopher ‘Kid’ Reid originally from the Bronx and Christopher ‘Play’ Martin from Queens New York met in the 1980’s. The pair were in rival Hip Hop crews The Turnout Brothers and The Super Lovers, and eventually formed their duo under the name The Fresh Force Crew. In 1986 ”She’s a Skeezer’’, “All Hail The Drum” and ”Rock Me” were recorded on Sultra Records By 1987 they had changed their name to Kid ‘n Play. Kid ‘n Play recorded three albums together between 1988 and 1991: ”2 Hype” (1988), ”Funhouse” (1990), and ”Face the Nation (1991). Super Producer Hurby “Luvbug” Azor, the producer for Salt ’n Pepa who was also a member of The Super Lovers with Play became Kid ‘n Play’s manager and producer during the early portion of their career. All three albums focused on fun lyrics backed by hot friendly instrumental tracks. Among the group’s most successful singles were 1989’s “Rollin’ with Kid ‘n Play” that reached #11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ”Billboard” R&B singles chart, 1990s “Funhouse” #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks ”Billboard” rap singles chart, and “Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody” another #1 rap hit. The group’s stage show highlighted their teen-friendly personalities, and dances such as their famous trademark Kid ’n Play Kick Step. Kid’s visual trademark was his high-top fade haircut, which stood ten inches high at its peak. Martin the fella with the low top fade regularly wore unique custom made jackets.
In addition to their music, Kid ‘n Play starred together in four feature films, all of them based around Hip Hop cultured characters and themes. Three of the films are New Line Cinema’s House Party series. House Party was so incredibly successful that it gave birth to two sequels ‘House Party 2’ in 1991 and ‘House Party 3’ in 1994. The franchise launched and contributed to the careers of Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, AJ Johnson, Robin Harris, Bernie Mac, Chris Tucker, TLC, Queen Latifah and many more. ‘In 1992 Kid ’n Play was casted in the leading roles for Warner Bros’s hit feature “Class Act’’. For that film, Reid traded his trademark high top fade in for dreds instead. The haircut was used as a plot device in the film. Kid ‘n Play even had their own NBC Saturday morning cartoon for one season from 1990 to 1991. On the show, Kid ‘n Play were regressed to teenagers, but their recording careers remained intact, as did their comic personas. The real Kid ‘n Play appeared in live-action wraparounds of the cartoons. The show stressed positive role models, teaching kids how to get along and stay out of trouble. A 1992 Marvel Comics comic book based on the cartoon lasted nine issues. They also shot some segments for the Public Broadcasting Service PBS math show ”Square One TV]’ and ”Sesame Street’.
After the duo: Reid continued acting, guest starring in a number of television sitcoms, including “Full House” and “Sister, Sister”, and hosting shows such as ”It’s Showtime at the Apollo” and ”Your Big Break”. Kid was also introduced on the Oprah Winfrey show as one of the comedians to watch out for by friend, comedian, writer, producer, political commentator Bill Maher. Kid is also responsible for the famous theme music for Maher’s HBO “Real Time” and the Martin Lawrence sitcom. Martin became a born-again Christian, and devoted his time to working on Christian based hip-hop music projects. He eventually took his industry experience and founded Playground Solutionz, a multimedia company that provides pre- and post-production for film, digital, and live productions. Christopher is a celebrated, award-winning and self-taught documentarian, and founder of cutting-edge production company Playground Solutionz, which develops and produces short and full-length multimedia projects. He served as a professional in residence at Florida A&M University in the Music Industry & Hip Hop Institute. He previously served in this role at Miles College, North Carolina Central University and Healthy Start Academy Charter School. In addition to schools, churches, community organizations, and specialty groups that includes Duke University, Stanford University, Florida State University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Illinois, and Western New England University to name a few.
Christopher Martin is a recipient of the 2007 New York International Film Festival Award for “best full-length feature documentary” for his production work on “Welcome to Durham.” He has also received Grammy and Stellar Award nominations for his production contributions to “Taking the Gospel to the Streets” Volumes 1, 2, and 3 and the successful release of “Holy Hip Hop the Movie” a DVD documentary. He’s completing three additional documentaries titled: “Can Hip Hop Go To School?,” Hip Hop dance documentary “… AND iDANCE”, Florida A&M University’s ”The Marching 100.” and now working on a Hip Hop talk series “Architects of Hip Hop” with pop and R&B icon and pioneer Kenny Gamble (Sounds of Philadelphia Gamble & Huff). In 2009, State Farm released a commercial featuring LeBron James doing the Kid ’n Play Kick Step to the music of Kid ‘n Play. October 2009. Famous artist & entertainers that include Jay-Z (‘Picasso Baby’ video), Fabolos and Chris Brown (‘She Wildin’ video), Meek Mills (‘Welcome to my House Party’ video), Beyonce (‘Get Me Bodied’ video), the Tonight Show with Jimmy Falon have done the Kid ’n Play Kick Step with Will Smith and with Brad Pitt.
The duo appeared on the BET Hip Hop Awards where they did their trademark dance. On February 9, 2010 the duo appeared on ”The Mo’Nique Show”. On June 23, 2010, the duo appeared on ”Lopez Tonight” and performed ‘Rollin’ with Kid ‘N Play’ from their album, ”2 Hype”. On February 2, 2014, Kid ‘n Play appeared in RadioShack’s “The 80s called” Super Bowl commercial. On July 15, 2015, Kid ‘n Play were the featured episode of TV One’s ‘Unsung’ that became and celebrated as one of the top ten episodes of all times of 100 episodes. February 21, 2016 Kid ’n Play were featured on Oprah’s ‘Where are they now?” Kid ’n Play are current enjoying crowds in well over 50 dates this year on the “I Love The 90’s” tour and individual dates around the country.