RAPPER’S DELIGHT
“Rapper’s Delight” is a 1979 hip hop track by the Sugarhill Gang and produced by Sylvia Robinson. While it was not the first single to include rapping, “Rapper’s Delight” is credited for introducing hip hop music to a wide audience. It was a prototype for various types of rap music, incorporating themes such as boasting, dance, honesty, and sex, with the charisma and enthusiasm of James Brown. The song was recorded in a single take. “Rapper’s Delight” is number 251 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and number 2 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs. It is also included in NPR’s list of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. It was preserved into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2011. (More from Wikipedia)
Unlike rap music – which emerged fully formed in the 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang – hints of punk rock date back to some high-energy bands of the 1960’s and early 1970's that have come to be known as “proto-punk”.
(December 2016)
