The Birth of Rap

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Rapper's Delight (thx GMC). I was in the 8th grade when it started playing on the radio and remember being outside for "recess" one day and an Italian-American boy who had memorized every word of Rapper's Delight taught me all the lyrics. I was instantly hooked.

From Old School Hip Hop...

Once the record was finished Joe Robinson, partner and husband of Sylvia, was quoted as saying she brought him a 15 minute record and he had no clue how to get it played on the radio. Once he heard the song, however, he knew it would only take one play on any station and that would be enough to start the momentum. One of the big breaks came in St. Louis, MO when station WESL played it once and jammed the phone lines for the next 12 hours.

Once the song started playing heavily on the radio, other New York MC's and DJ's were stunned and amazed. And not so much because rap was on the radio, but because of who the group was that was being played. Grandmaster Flash recalled thinking, "The Sugarhill who". It was inevitable that a rap record would hit, but most people thought it would be The Cold Crush Brothers, The Fantastic 5, Grandmaster Flash, or Kurtis Blow.

The song sold over two million copies (the biggest 12" single ever) and hit #4 on the R&B Chart. At one point, the record was selling over 50,000 copies a day. The Sugarhill Gang was never able to recapture the same success although they did have other hits included "8th Wonder" and "Apache". They have been able to continue to tour even today on the success of "Rapper's Delight".

The song that lit the match, Happy 30th Anniversary Sugar Hill Gang....