THE FIRST HIP HOP HIT

            The music world changed on Sept. 16, 1979 when the first hip hop record was released.  It all started in the early 1970’s when NYC block parties began to have MCs rap to records.  DJs added mixing and scratching, and B-Boys developed break dancing.  The music was limited to NYC as record companies were not interested and the hip hop artists did not want to go commercial.  In Sept., 1979, the group Chic was playing a concert.  When they started their hit single “Good Times”, rapper Fab Five Freddy jumped on stage with Big Bank Hank Jackson, Wonder Mike Wright, and Master Gee O’Brian.  The quartet freestyled to the music.  About a year later, a record company owner named Slyvia Robinson decided to record a hip hop song.  Her son Joey recruited Jackson, Wright, and O’Brian.  The group took its name from the record company – the Sugar Hill Gang.  Most of the lyrics were “borrowed” from Curtis Brown (Grandmaster Caz), who was not credited and got no royalties.  The lyrics were used with the music from “Good Times”.   They named the song “Rapper’s Delight”.   The members of Chic who wrote “Good Times” sued and were given writing credits.  The song was recorded in one 15-minute take.  It was released as a 12” record.  A 5” version was released for radio play.  It became a hit and cracked the Top 40 on Jan. 5, 1980.  It peaked at #36 one week later.  The song reached #3 in Great Britain and #1 in Canada!  Hip hop was brought to the public outside of NYC.  The record was not well received in the hip hop community of New York City.  There was a belief that the music should only be used at block parties and discos.  Recording was selling out.  Plus, the members of the Sugar Hill Gang were not known in the hip hop community.  But the cat was out of the bag.  The song was on VH1’s “100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs” and was #251 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.  The song is in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

https://www.npr.org/2000/12/29/1116242/rappers-deligh 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapper%27s_Delight

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-sugarhill-gang/rappers-delight

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-sugarhill-gangs-rappers-delight-becomes-hip-hops-first-top-40-hit

Here are the lyrics: 

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sugarhillgang/rappersdelightlongversion.html