''Hip Hop Harry'' is an American children's television series that aired on

Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were e ...

and

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

as part of the Ready Set Learn block from 2006 to 2008. Similar to PBS Kids series such as ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...

'' (the setting of the show bears resemblance to ''Barney'' in nature), ''

Kidsongs ''Kidsongs'' is an American children's media franchise that includes Kidsongs Music Video Stories on DVD and video, The Kidsongs TV Show, CDs of favorite children's songs, song books, sheet music, toys and an ecommerce website. It was created by ...

'' and ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'', Hip Hop Harry is a live-action program aimed at younger children ranging from around 2–7 years old. The program uses

age-appropriate Age appropriateness refers to people behaving as predicted by their perspective timetable of development. The perspective timetable is embedded throughout people's social life, primarily based on socially-agreed age expectations and age norms. Fo ...

hip hop music and dance to teach social, educational, physical and creative skills.

Synopsis

The show takes place in a learning/play center house known as "Hip Hop Central", where Hip Hop Harry and his kids learn, play and dance. In between, the kids learn about the main topic of the episode. After they have learned about the topic, they sing and rap the song "I Love to Learn." Then, the kids and Hip Hop discuss what they've learned via questions/answers and watching recaps from the day's episode via a push-button monitor. Each episode ends with the "Hip Hop Harry Dance Circle", where the kids circle up while one of them dances in the center as they shout, "Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!", to an instrumental hip hop track, with Arabian-tinged music. Even Harry dances in the circle too (thus, the kids shout, "Go, Harry!!"). But before they dance, they do a warm-up dance called, "The Harry". After the kids come together to move in the middle, the credits roll.

Physical appearance

Hip Hop Harry is an anthropomorphic rapping yellow furry bear with a red shirt, blue hat, baggy blue jeans, a gold chain with an "H" in the middle and white sneaker shoes with an "H" on each side. He also wears a blue and red wristwatch. The character's appearance is in the general style of hip-hop fashion. His birthday is January 22nd, as noted in Episode 5.

Cast

* Ali Alimi - Voice of Hip Hop Harry ** David Joyner - Hip Hop Harry (In-suit performer), Chef Rob (1 episode) ** Ben Blair - Hip Hop Harry (In-suit performer) (2 episodes), Dr. Vinnie (1 episode) ** Kefla Hare - Hip Hop Harry (In-suit performer) (5 episodes)

People

* Ryan Andres - Told jokes in the episode "Finding Your Talent". *

Kelli Berglund Kelli Berglund (born February 9, 1996) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Bree Davenport in the Disney XD series '' Lab Rats'', and its spinoff '' Lab Rats: Elite Force''. In 2014 she starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie ...

- Kelli helped plan a surprise party for Pinky in "Do Your Part." * Kendra Bracy - Kendra introduced her grandmother from Trinidad in one episode. * Colton Burton - Colton was one of William's best friends in real life and refused to count the pilots, he did not appear in an episode of Hip Hop Harry without him. * Kiana Contreres - Kiana played a supporting role in the episode "Get Involved," cheering her sister's Double Dutch team to victory. * Jake Deanda - Jake was one of the main kids to meet Katie in "Making New Friends." * Savannah DeJesus - Savannah appeared in "Fancy Footwook" and "Rain Makes Rainbows" with her sister Sophina. *

Sophina DeJesus Sophina Saade DeJesus (born October 6, 1994 in San Jose, California) is an American artistic gymnast and dancer of mixed Puerto Rican and African-American descent. A former elite gymnast, she was a member of the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team from t ...

- Sophina was an aspiring gymnast who enjoys working with her sister, Savannah. * Kelly Dolan - played Pinky. * Jeremy Washington - played Riddles. * Hayden Harrah - Hayden appeared less frequently than other members of the cast, but was a big help during "A B See". * Jay Jay Harris - Jay Jay is shown in "Pajama Party" and "Just Give it a Try" to be resistant to try new things. He and Riddles got along very well. After a good bongo drum performance, Hip Hop Harry commented that Jay Jay may one day be on a salsa record. * William May - He appears in several episodes. In "Hip Hop Big Top" he was concerned about being unable to dance with a brace on his leg. With encouragement from Hip Hop Harry and his friends, he realized he could still be a part of the

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

. * Veronicaa Miller - Veronicaa was shown to discover a talent for singing in "Finding Your Talent." * Katie Petitte - The new girl in "Making New Friends." She takes a hip hop dance class near the end of the series. * Davide Schiavone - Dancer * Elizabeth Small - Her zipper served the finishing touch in "A B See." * Scott Thomas - Scott appears in several episodes. He was featured in "Never Give Up", when he wanted to quit basketball due to a bad day at practice. Hip Hop Harry gave him some encouragement and Scott realized that he should never give up. * Megan Woo - Megan loved animals and wishes to be a veterinarian when she grows up. * Tyler White - A young breakdancer with a talent for windmills and the strongman in Hip Hop Harry's circus. * Mail Carrier Carla - played by Valerie Sheppard, who appears in the episode, "Dream It! Achieve It!"

Events

The cast performed their song ''Move Those Feet'' at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 25-26, 2009 on the

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

children's stage on the campus of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Episodes

Season 1 (2006)

Season 2 (2007–08)

Broadcast and home media

''Hip Hop Harry'' has been recently aired on Discovery Kids and TLC (as part of the "Ready Set Learn" block), as well as most Retro TV affiliates. As of 2023, the show is now streaming on Tubi.

Legacy

In 2017, the character Harry was featured in the YouTube web series ''Hip Hop Harry Toy Review''. In 2020, ''Hip Hop Harry'' had a resurgence in popularity on social media soon after people began to protest following the murder of George Floyd. Clips of the "Hip Hop Harry Dance Circle" portion of the show first resurfaced on Twitter when director and author

Matthew A. Cherry Matthew A. Cherry (born December 14, 1981) is an American film director, writer, producer, and former American football player. He wrote and directed two independent films, ''The Last Fall'' (2012), and ''9 Rides'' (2016). He is best known for th ...

posted a short video of this sequence in response to reports that all four of the officers involved in the death had been arrested. The video went viral and many across social media continued to post several dancing clips from the show in celebration of victories in the fight for

police reform Criminal justice reform addresses structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Criminal justice reform can take place at any point where the cr ...

and racial equality.

Reception

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

rated the show a four out of five stars.

References

*
Hip Hop Harry Season 1-1 Episode Guide
* {{Discovery Kids 2006 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings Hip hop television 2000s American children's television series 2000s American music television series TLC (TV network) original programming Television series about bears American television shows featuring puppetry American children's musical television series Television series about children American preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series Discovery Kids original programming