Around 10 years ago, most parents would never have dreamed of letting Princess Superstar near their kids. The New York rapper was making waves with her racy rhymes on albums such as 2001’s “Princess Superstar Is” and raising eyebrows with her provocative onstage antics. During a show in London in 2002, she ended up rolling around the floor with one “I Love NY” sticker covering each breast.
Today, she’s a parent herself, and every Saturday in June she’s helming a hip-hop class, Play Skool, for 1- to 8-year-olds at Rough Trade record store in Williamsburg.
“It’s an educational exercise and helps teach kids about language,” Princess Superstar (real name Concetta Kirschner) tells The Post. “It’s the same reason we teach kids nursery rhymes. When you’re rapping, you have to think fast.”
It’s not just rapping that she’s teaching, either. Her kindergarten Kanyes and very Lil’ Kims will gain insight into almost all of hip-hop’s facets, like break dancing, beat-boxing, deejaying and even sampling. “We also help the kids come up with MC names. They want to be characters and play make-believe. One of the kids I teach calls herself MC Sparkles, and another one is Zoey Zig Zag.”
But don’t fret: Only kid-friendly edits of songs are used, there’s no rolling around naked and there’s no need for crayon remover, because graffiti is one part of hip-hop culture that’s not on the curriculum.
The young MCs who participate are getting one hell of a teacher. Princess Superstar’s career began in the mid-1990s, when she started as a hip-hop artist — no easy thing for a blond woman in such a male-dominated world. But her quicksilver rhyming skills saw her gain acceptance and led Princess to work with hip-hop luminaries such as Grandmaster Flash and De La Soul producer Prince Paul. In 2002, she scored a big hit in the UK with her cheeky single “Bad Babysitter,” which featured laughout- loud lines such as “Let’s try on your mom’s minks/Think she’ll miss these Chanel links?” Gradually, she melded her hip-hop roots with an electronic element and, while it wasn’t a commercially successful venture, Princess insists it was an influential one.
“I put out this sci-fi album in 2005 called ‘My Machine,’ ” she recalls. “At the Grammys in 2010, Gaga did a performance with clones all around her that looked like it was lifted exactly from my album artwork. But that’s OK. I was influenced by David Bowie and Lil’ Kim!”
Three years ago, Princess took a break from music after giving birth to her daughter Siren. As Siren grew into a toddler, she gave her mom the inspiration for a different kind of innovation. “Children copy what their parents do, and I was rapping and dancing along to ‘Rapper’s Delight’ [by the Sugarhill Gang]. Siren picked it up really quickly and that’s where the idea for the class came from. Now, she can rap almost every word of it!”
Princess teamed up with the TLB music school on the Upper East Side to flesh out the concept, and now she’s bringing it to NYC’s hippest and hoppest parents. “My kids have started doing the running man and they can also rap along to Snoop Dogg’s ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot,’ ” says Alissa Schwartz, 32, mother to 5-year-old Zoey and 3 ½-year-old Violet. Not only have they been to Princess’ classes at TLB already, the Upper East Sider also plans to take them to Rough Trade. “I like the idea of them singing something other than the ‘Frozen’ soundtrack!”
Princess is also prepping a return to the adult music world with a new EP, “I’m a Firecracker,” due July 15. It shows that the 43-year-old still has her idiosyncratic sense of humor. “I’m still raunchy, but now I’m a little older, I go deeper, too,” she laughs with her familiar sass. Having softened up the path to success for other white female rappers such as Iggy Azalea, Princess Superstar’s Play Skool might just pave the way for another generation. Just remember where you read about MC Sparkles and Zoey Zig Zag first.
Saturdays in June, 11:30 a.m. at Rough Trade NYC, 64 N. Ninth St., Williamsburg; roughtrade.com. Admission, $20.