| "Rapper's Delight" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
_by_Sugarhill_Gang_US_12-inch_vinyl_red_label.png) Red side-A label variant of the 1979 US 12-inch single not crediting Chic's song | ||||
| Single bythe Sugarhill Gang | ||||
| from the albumSugarhill Gang | ||||
| Released | September 16, 1979 (1979-09-16)[1] | |||
| Recorded | August 2, 1979 (1979-08-02) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Sugar Hill | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Producer | Sylvia Robinson | |||
| The Sugarhill Gang singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Rapper's Delight" onYouTube | ||||
"Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 rap song that serves as the debut single of American hip-hop triothe Sugarhill Gang, produced bySylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by theFatback Band's "King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper's Delight" is credited for introducing rap music to a wide audience, reaching the top 40 in the United States, as well as the top three in the United Kingdom and number one in Canada. It was a prototype for various types ofrap music. The trackinterpolates[2]Chic's "Good Times", resulting in Chic'sNile Rodgers andBernard Edwards threatening to sueSugar Hill Records for copyright infringement; a settlement was reached that gave the two songwriting credits. It also interpolatesLove De-Luxe's "Here Comes That Sound Again". The track was recorded in a single take.[3] There are five mixes of the song.
"Rapper's Delight" was ranked at number 251 onRolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010, and number two on bothVH1's "100 Greatest Rap Songs" andRolling Stone's "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time" lists.[4] It is also included onNPR's list of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. It was preserved in theNational Recording Registry by theLibrary of Congress in 2011 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[5]
In 2014, the record was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.[6]
In late 1978,Debbie Harry suggested thatChic'sNile Rodgers join her andChris Stein at ahip-hop event, which at the time was a communal space taken over by teenagers withboombox stereos playing various pieces of music that performers wouldbreak dance to. Rodgers experienced this event the first time himself at a high school in theBronx. On September 20 and 21, 1979,Blondie and Chic were playing concerts withthe Clash in New York at thePalladium. When Chic started playing "Good Times", rapperFab Five Freddy and the members of the Sugarhill Gang ("Big Bank Hank" Jackson, "Wonder Mike" Wright, and "Master Gee" O'Brien), jumped up on stage and startedfreestyling with the band. A few weeks later, Rodgers was on the dance floor of New York club Leviticus and heard the DJ play a song which opened withBernard Edwards' bass line from Chic's "Good Times". Rodgers approached the DJ who said he was playing a record he had just bought that day inHarlem. The song turned out to be an early version of "Rapper's Delight", which also included a scratched version of the song's string section. Rodgers and Edwards immediately threatened legal action overcopyright, which resulted in a settlement and their being credited as co-writers.[7] Rodgers claims that this is the first and only time ever he resisted one of his records from being sampled.[8] He admitted that he was originally upset with the song, but later declared it to be "one of his favorite songs of all time" and his favorite of all the tracks thatsampled (or in this instanceinterpolated) Chic.[9][better source needed] He also stated: "As innovative and important as 'Good Times' was, 'Rapper's Delight' was just as much, if not more so."[10] Rodgers would even rap sections ofRapper's Delight when playingGood Times live with Chic.[11]
A substantial portion of the early stanzas of the song's lyrics was borrowed by Jackson fromGrandmaster Caz (Curtis Brown) who had loaned his 'book' to him—these include a namecheck for "Casanova Fly", which was Caz's full stage name.[12] According toWonder Mike, he had heard the phrase "hip-hop" from a cousin, leading to the opening line of "Hip-hop, hippie to the hippie, to the hip-hip-hop and you don't stop", while he described "To the bang-bang boogie, say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat" as "basically a spoken drum roll. I liked the percussive sound of the letter B". The line "Now what you hear is not a test, I'm rappin' to the beat", was inspired by the introduction toThe Outer Limits ("There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture").[13]
Before the "Good Times" background starts, the intro to the recording is an interpolation of "Here Comes That Sound Again" by British studio groupLove De-Luxe, a disco hit in 1979.[13]
According to Oliver Wang, author of the 2003Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide, recording artist ("Pillow Talk") and studio ownerSylvia Robinson had trouble finding anyone willing to record a rap song. Most of the rappers who performed in clubs did not want to record, as many practitioners believed the style was for live performances only. It is said that Robinson and her son overheardBig Bank Hank in a pizza parlour.[14] According toMaster Gee, Hank auditioned for Robinson in front of the pizza parlor where he worked, while Gee himself auditioned in Robinson's car.[13] A live band was used to record most of the backing track, including members of the group "Positive Force": Albert Pittman, Bernard Roland, Moncy Smith, and Bryan Horton.[15][16][13]
Chip Shearin claimed during a 2010 interview that he was the bass player on the track. At the age of 17, he had visited a friend inNew Jersey. The friend knew Robinson, who needed some musicians for various recordings, including "Rapper's Delight". Shearin's job on the song was to play the bass for 15 minutes straight, with no mistakes. He was paid $70 but later went on to perform with Sugarhill Gang in concert. Shearin described the session this way:
The drummer and I were sweating bullets because that's a long time. And this was in the days before samplers and drum machines, when real humans had to play things. ... Sylvia said, 'I've got these kids who are going to talk real fast over it; that's the best way I can describe it.'[17]
"Rapper's Delight" peaked at number 36 in January 1980 on the USBillboard Hot 100 chart,[18] number four on theBillboardHot Soul Singles chart in December 1979. The song was much more successful internationally, reaching number one on the Canadian Top Singles chart in January 1980,[19] number one on the Dutch Top 40, and number three on theUK Singles Chart. In 1980, the song was the anchor of the group's first albumThe Sugarhill Gang.[20]
It was the first top 40 song to be available only as a 12-inch extended version in the US. Early pressings (very few) were released with a red label, with black print, onSugar Hill Records, along with a 7" 45rpm single (which is very rare). Later pressings had the more common blue label, in orange colored "roulette style" sleeves, fashioned after the label forRoulette Records; Roulette'sMorris Levy and reputed mobster Tony Riviera had invested in Sugar Hill. Even later pressings were issued in the more common blue sleeves with the Sugarhill Records logo. In Europe, however, it was released on the classic 7-inch single format on French pop labelVogue, with a shorter version of the song. It was this 7" single that reached number one in the Dutch chart. The song ranked number 251 onRolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[17]
A British version of the song, with rewritten lyrics, was recorded for the song's 25th anniversary in 2004 by an ensemble of performers includingRodney P,Chester P,Kano, Simone,Yungun,Sway, J2K, Swiss,Baby Blue,Skibadee, Luke Skys, and MC D.[21]
The Sugar Hill Gang appeared on the syndicated Soap Factory Disco Show in late 1979, and their performance later became the song's official music video.[22] The group's performance on thePalisades Park-based program demonstrates the significant overlap between early hip-hop and disco of the late 1970s.
Alternate music videos exist, also. One appears to have been recorded by Dutch broadcasting companyAVRO at a hotel pool in early 1980.[23]
The theme was used in "Cog", aHonda advertisement.[24]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[52] | Platinum | 249,000[51] |
| France | — | 300,000[53] |
| Germany | — | 100,000[54] |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[55] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[56] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| Philippines | — | 100,000[57] |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[58] | Gold | 25,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[59] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
| United States | — | 1,300,000[60] |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | — | 5,000,000[61] |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
New York Times columnistCharles M. Blow recalled his memories of the song, hearing it in the rural South: "It sounded revolutionary, even when I was a child, or perhaps especially when I was a child. And it was. It was fierce and fun, simultaneously foreign and familiar." He added:[62]
Listen to "Rapper's Delight", and you hear a lightweight, joyous anthem. But it is a rough-hewn joy, miraculously born out of the struggle and pain of the Black experience. Struggle and pain are often a kiln for creativity, and that has meant that much of American culture is born of the story of Black American life.
The song appears on the soundtrack of several video games. The long single version appears inTony Hawk's Underground 2, while the full version (albeit censored) appears inMLB 2K10. It also appears inForza Horizon 4, on one of the game's radio stations. A cover of the song is on the track list forJust Dance 2024 Edition.[63]
The chorus of the 2002 international hit "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" byLas Ketchup is a Spanishgibberish version ofWonder Mike's part in "Rapper's Delight".[64][65]
The story goes thatBig Bank Hank,Wonder Mike, andMaster Gee metSylvia Robinson on a Friday and recorded "Rapper's Delight" the following Monday in just one take.
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