Pitchfork

Long before you can grasp the intricacies of "Chemical Calisthenics" and such, you need a solid foundation in basic mathematics, right? Well shucks, good thing for Hip Hop Multiplication, a new CD by a group of adventurous young students (and an enterprising ex-teacher) known as Smart Shorties.

Name a chart-topping rap/r&b track from the last couple years and Smart Shorties have probably bowdlerized it with their times-sign rhymes (or just plain reclaimed it for the kids, one would suppose, in the case of nursery rhyme stuff like Jibbs' "Chain Hang Low" and Yung Joc's "I Know You See It"). And while some educators out there might find the grammar questionable, at least the math is all sound.

Forget the D's; Rich Boy is throwing some fours on it. Who cares about being fly or hot? The new Mims can't wait to let the world know "This Is Why I'm Smart". And E-40 is sticking around this time, since he wants us to "Tell Me What You Know". Hell, even "Chicken Noodle Soup" gets the math-over on this wacky collection.

The tracklist follows after the jump, with the original tunes and artists in brackets. Each track covers its corresponding column on the multiplication table, with track 13, "Clear It Out", addressing the number zero. Hip Hop Multiplication is available now from Spark the Mind.

In other news, the Dino 5 are cutting a dis track as you read this.

Hip Hop Multiplication:

01 Always the Same ["I Wanna Love You" by Akon]
02 Me and 2s ["Me and U" by Cassie]
03 Crank Them 3s ["Crank That (Soulja Boy)" by Soulja Boy]
04 Throw Some 4s on It ["Throw Some D's" by Rich Boy]
05 This Is Why I'm Smart ["This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims]
06 Math Facts ["Bartender" by T-Pain]
07 Ballin' ["We Fly High" by Jim Jones]
08 I Know You Know It ["I Know You See It" by Yung Joc]
09 The 9s Trick ["Chain Hang Low" by Jibbs]
10 Work It Out ["Walk It Out" by Unk]
11 Double Double ["Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown]
12 Tell Me What You Know ["Tell Me When to Go" by E-40]
13 Clear It Out ["Chicken Noodle Soup" by Webstar]