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T.V. shows can birth some of the best music and if you’re an avid watcher, some of the tunes can get stuck in your head for years to come.
I’m not just talking about catchy theme songs or closing credit music. I’m talking about the countless songs that characters sang within their T.V. world that weren’t real, but they were ridiculously catchy.
It could’ve been a song from a music group within the show or a parody that ended up making you jam just as hard as real-life songs.
Hit the next pages to find out which tracks had repeat-potential when hearing them for the first time. As a rubric, I decided to leave out songs that were released as singles outside of the show and songs that gained heavy promotion in the music market (sorry Empire soundtrack).
But don’t worry, the songs that follow are sure to bring the nostalgia and hopefully, they’ll make it on a streaming site in the near future!
The Boondocks was infamous for its on-point commentary about politics and Black culture. The show took satire to hilarious heights when they introduced the popular rapper Gangstalucious (voiced by Mos Def). His hit single “Thuggin’ Love” was inescapable throughout the show. It played on characters’ T.V., in car rides, and on the radio. Of course, in the end, “Thuggin’ Love” literally meant thug-on-thug love in the pre-gay marriage era, proving the Boondocks was ahead of the game in exposing the irony of gangsta rappers.
For every Black sitcom, there’s usually a cast member who has talents beyond acting. Will Smith was the obvious one on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but a young Tatyana Ali also made space to show off her skills in an episode of the show. Her character Ashley Banks tried to pursue a singing career and the catchy bop “Make Up Your Mind” was released as her breakout single. Though Ashley’s career didn’t last, Tatyana Ali went on to release one studio album and various singles, proving the woman behind the character really had the skillz.
To continue the trend of talented sitcom singers, Eddie from Family Matters (played by Darius McCrary) had a voice that melted hearts. He was constantly showcasing his vocal chops on the show and his singing probably reached its peak when Eddie performed with real-life singer Shanice in an episode of the show. The resulting “You’re The One I Need” was pure R&B magic.
In retrospect, Steve Urkel (played by Jaleel White) was probably one of the most annoying and outright frustrating characters on T.V. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have his memorable moments. One such moment came when Urkel attended a rooftop party and showed the teens there how to do his “special” dance. Surprisingly, the angsty kids played along.
A nerd rap gawd was born.
There was no tighter group of friends on animated T.V. than Penny Proud, Dijonay, Zoey, and we’ll throw LaCienega Boulevardez in there too. The four of them were so tight that they formed a singing group called LPDZ that created an anthem for besties everywhere. Unfortunately, the four amigos turned sour by the end of the episode, but the music from their past will live on in Disney Channel history.
As previously stated, LPDZ created music that lives on, but Penny Proud might have changed the game when she went solo. Her egotistical, obnoxious, self-absorbed song “It’s All About Me” might be ridiculous, but with lines like “don’t hate, just congratulate,” one can’t help but jam to lyrics that are life mottos.
Another Disney Channel show birthed one of the most hilarious faux groups from tween programming. In That’s So Raven, many of the characters were obsessed with this boy group called Boyz In Motion and in one episode, they finally appeared in the flesh. They performed their hit song “Boyz In Motion” (surprise, surprise) and it caused hearts to flutter and high school bullies to faint.
Let’s face it. Boyz In Motion was iconic.
Best friends from a comedy show continue to show off their musical chops with The Parkers‘ singing group Freestyle Unity. The group consisted of Kim Parker (played by Countess Vaughn), Stevie (played by Jenna Von Oÿ) and T (played by Ken Lawson). They had multiple bops throughout the show, but their most memorable one has to be “Picture Me Just Falling.” T had the rhymes while Kim was giving vocals for days. The perfect combination for the talented trio.
T.J. Henderson (played by Tahj Mowry) might have been the smartest kid in the neighborhood, but his brother Marcus (played by Jason Weaver) had the smooth vocals for the ladies. His singing group Mackadocious made a mistake when they brought T.J. on to play the keyboard. T.J. got a little carried away with the spotlight, but it didn’t put a damper on the sultry song the group performed “I Don’t Know Why.”
It was the jam.
“Back In ’94” from Chappelle’s Show
Dave Chappelle had various songs to come from his variety show that people still crack up to today. But one standout song was a faux track released by 2Pac that was a little too up-to-date on current events. With 2Pac dying in 1996, why is he talking about George W. Bush being elected as president in 2001?
Only Chappelle could brilliantly make fun of an artist who continued to put out music long after his death.
