1979
1979 · Sugarhill Gang · USA
Rapper's Delight
Hip-HopDisco 14:57 Landmark Disco, Punk & Funk
AlbumRapper's Delight (single)
LabelSugar Hill
The first hip-hop recording to reach mainstream commercial success: a 15-minute single built on Chic's 'Good Times' bassline. The Sugarhill Gang were relatively unknown in the Bronx hip-hop scene where the art form had been developed.
Musical Significance
Introduced hip-hop to mainstream white America and to the world. Though not respected by hip-hop purists (DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa were its real inventors), it was the delivery mechanism that made rap a commercial genre.
Historical Context
Recorded in one take in 1979. The South Bronx, where hip-hop developed, had been devastated by arson, poverty, and municipal neglect. Hip-hop was community expression and survival culture.