September 16th, 1979 was sixteen days before my dad was born. It was also the day when The Sugarhill Gang released ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ Today, ‘Rapper’s Delight’ is considered the song, introducing rap to wider audiences. Even the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress has its own recording.
Throughout the 70s, Hip-Hop was primarily an underground movement, focusing on emceeing and breakbeats at house parties. Particularly DJ Kool Herc’s house parties. He held them at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue of South Bronx, which is now considered the birthplace of Hip-Hop culture.
At his house parties, DJ Kool Herc would break the funkiest parts of funk songs. He then would isolate and repeat them for the sake of all-night dance parties. This method of breakbeat deejaying will form one of the Hip-Hop music basis—sampling. During the parties, DJ Kool Herc would also do announcements and exhortations to dancers. DJ Kool Herc’s creative commentary would be a basis for rapping.
The Story of the ‘Rapper’s Delight’ and the Lawsuit
By 1979 Hip-Hop somewhat spread around the country. However, it still was underground. The music audiences were dancing to funk and rebelling at punk rock shows. Rapping was considered a subculture for coastal urban youth but didn’t make it past that.
However, ‘Rapper’s Delight’ changed everything. The Sugarhill Gang made Hip-Hop popular and eradicated its “urban tattoo.” September 16th release followed up with Blondie, Chic, and The Clash playing a concert at New York’s Palladium. Together with the bands, Fab Five Freddy with The Sugarhill Gang’s Big Bank Hank, Mike Wright, and Master Gee came on the stage. Since The Sugarhill Gang’s single features Chic’s ‘Good Times,’ the band started freestyling during the show once Chic dropped the song’s bass line.
Later Chic heard the recorded cut of The Sugarhill Gang’s song and sued the band. The lawsuit made The Sugarhill Gang famous. Even though the band provided proper credit for Chic on their song, The Sugarhill Gang also gained a lot of media attention. The lawsuit and ‘Rapper’s Delight’ would eventually bring the band and Hip-Hop itself to wider audiences, now-then considered an experimental genre.
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Written by Nikita Serdiuk | IG: @nikitasrdk | Twitter: @nktserdiuk