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==Background== |
==Background== |
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In late 1978, [[Debbie Harry]] suggested that [[Chic (band)|Chic]]'s [[Nile Rodgers]] join her and [[Chris Stein]] at a [[hip hop]] event, which at the time was a communal space taken over by teenagers with [[boombox]] stereos playing various pieces of music that performers would [[B-boying|break dance]] to. Rodgers experienced this event the first time himself at a [[high school]] in the [[Bronx]]. On September 20, 1979 and September 21, 1979, [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] and Chic were playing concerts with [[The Clash]] in New York at [[Palladium (New York City)|The Palladium]]. When Chic started playing "[[Good Times (Chic song)|Good Times]]", rapper [[Fab Five Freddy]] and the members of the Sugarhill Gang ("Big Bank Hank" Jackson, Mike Wright, and "Master Gee" O'Brien), jumped up on stage and started [[freestyle rap|freestyling]] 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 with [[Bernard 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 in [[Harlem]]. 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 over [[copyright]], which resulted in a settlement and their being credited as co-writers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-SCGNOieBI&feature=related|title=The Story of Rapper's Delight by Nile Rodgers|publisher=RapProject.tv|accessdate=October 12, 2008}}</ref> Rodgers 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 that sampled (or in this instance interpolated) Chic<ref>[http://twentyfirstcenturymusic.blogspot.com/2011/11/nile-rodgers-interviewed-by-peter.html "Nile Rodgers interviewed by Peter Paphides"]. Twentyfirstcenturymusic.blogspot.com. November 10, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2011.</ref>{{Better source|date=June 2015}}. He also stated that "as innovative and important as 'Good Times' was, 'Rapper's Delight' was just as much, if not more so."<ref>[http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1992 ]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref> "Rapper's Delight" is said to be the song that popularized rap music and put it into the mainstream. |
In late 1978, [[Debbie Harry]] suggested that [[Chic (band)|Chic]]'s [[Nile Rodgers]] join her and [[Chris Stein]] at a [[hip hop]] event, which at the time was a communal space taken over by teenagers with [[boombox]] stereos playing various pieces of music that performers would [[B-boying|break dance]] to. Rodgers experienced this event the first time himself at a [[high school]] in the [[Bronx]]. On September 20, 1979 and September 21, 1979, [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] and Chic were playing concerts with [[The Clash]] in New York at [[Palladium (New York City)|The Palladium]]. When Chic started playing "[[Good Times (Chic song)|Good Times]]", rapper [[Fab Five Freddy]] and the members of the Sugarhill Gang ("Big Bank Hank" Jackson, Mike Wright, and "Master Gee" O'Brien), jumped up on stage and started [[freestyle rap|freestyling]] 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 with [[Bernard 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 in [[Harlem]]. 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 over [[copyright]], which resulted in a settlement and their being credited as co-writers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-SCGNOieBI&feature=related|title=The Story of Rapper's Delight by Nile Rodgers|publisher=RapProject.tv|accessdate=October 12, 2008}}</ref> Rodgers 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 that sampled (or in this instance interpolated) Chic<ref>[http://twentyfirstcenturymusic.blogspot.com/2011/11/nile-rodgers-interviewed-by-peter.html "Nile Rodgers interviewed by Peter Paphides"]. Twentyfirstcenturymusic.blogspot.com. November 10, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2011.</ref>{{Better source|date=June 2015}}. He also stated that "as innovative and important as 'Good Times' was, 'Rapper's Delight' was just as much, if not more so."<ref>[http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1992 ]{{dead link|date=February 2014}}</ref> "Rapper's Delight" is said to be the song that popularized rap music and put it into the mainstream. |
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A substantial portion of the early stanzas of the song's lyrics was borrowed by Jackson from "[[Grandmaster Caz]]" (Curtis Fisher) who had loaned his 'book' to him -- these include a namecheck for "Casanova Fly," which was Caz's full stage name.<ref>{{cite web|url="http://nypost.com/2014/01/26/writing-cred-for-rappers-delight-sparks-grudge/"|publisher=New York Post|accessdate=October 17, 2015}}<ref> |
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Before the "Good Times" background starts, the intro to the recording is an [[interpolation (music)|interpolation]] of "[[Here Comes That Sound Again]]" by British studio group [[Love De-Luxe]], a dance hit in 1979. |
Before the "Good Times" background starts, the intro to the recording is an [[interpolation (music)|interpolation]] of "[[Here Comes That Sound Again]]" by British studio group [[Love De-Luxe]], a dance hit in 1979. |
Revision as of 15:26, 7 October 2015
"Rapper's Delight" | |
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Song |
"Rapper's Delight" is a song recorded in 1979 by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song is ranked #251 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and #2 on both About.com's and 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. The song was also named as the Greatest Really Long Rock Song of all time by Digital Dream Door.[2] It was preserved into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2011, calling it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The song was recorded in a single take.[3] There are three versions of the original version of the song: 14:35 (12" long version), 6:30 (12" short version), and 4:55 (7" shortened single version). Ten years after its initial release, an official remix by Ben Liebrand entitled "Rapper's Delight '89" was released.
Background
In late 1978, Debbie Harry suggested that Chic's Nile Rodgers join her and Chris Stein at a hip hop event, which at the time was a communal space taken over by teenagers with boombox stereos playing various pieces of music that performers would break dance to. Rodgers experienced this event the first time himself at a high school in the Bronx. On September 20, 1979 and September 21, 1979, Blondie and Chic were playing concerts with The Clash in New York at The Palladium. When Chic started playing "Good Times", rapper Fab Five Freddy and the members of the Sugarhill Gang ("Big Bank Hank" Jackson, Mike Wright, and "Master Gee" O'Brien), jumped up on stage and started freestyling 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 with Bernard 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 in Harlem. 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 over copyright, which resulted in a settlement and their being credited as co-writers.[4] Rodgers 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 that sampled (or in this instance interpolated) Chic[5][better source needed]. He also stated that "as innovative and important as 'Good Times' was, 'Rapper's Delight' was just as much, if not more so."[6] "Rapper's Delight" is said to be the song that popularized rap music and put it into the mainstream.
A substantial portion of the early stanzas of the song's lyrics was borrowed by Jackson from "Grandmaster Caz" (Curtis Fisher) who had loaned his 'book' to him -- these include a namecheck for "Casanova Fly," which was Caz's full stage name.Cite error: A <ref>
tag is missing the closing </ref>
(see the help page).
Wang said:
There's this idea that hip-hop has to have street credibility, yet the first big hip-hop song was an inauthentic fabrication. It's not like the guys involved were the 'real' hip-hop icons of the era, like Grandmaster Flash or Lovebug Starski. So it's a pretty impressive fabrication, lightning in a bottle.[7]
History
"Rapper's Delight" peaked at #36 in January 1980 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart,[8] #4 on the U.S. Hot Soul Singles chart in December 1979,[9] #1 on the Canadian Singles Chart in January 1980,[10] #1 on the Dutch Top 40, and #3 on the UK Singles Chart. The single sold over 2 million copies in the United States, grossing $3.5 million for Sugar Hill Records.[11] In 1980 the song was the anchor of the group's first album The Sugarhill Gang.
It was the first Top 40 song to be available only as a 12-inch extended version in the U.S. Early pressings (very few) were released with a red label, with black print, on Sugarhill 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, while 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 label Vogue, with a shorter version of the song. It was this 7" single that reached number one in the Dutch chart. The song ranked #248 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[7]
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
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Chart succession
References
- ^ Lynch, Joe (October 13, 2014). "35 Years Ago, Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' Made Its First Chart Appearance". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
- ^ "100 GREATEST REALLY LONG ROCK SONGS". DigitalDreamDoor.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
- ^ "'Rapper's Delight'". National Public Radio. December 29, 2000. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
The story goes that Big Bank Hank, Wonder Mike, and Master Gee met Sylvia Robinson on a Friday and recorded "Rapper's Delight" the following Monday in just one take.
{{cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=
(help) - ^ "The Story of Rapper's Delight by Nile Rodgers". RapProject.tv. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
- ^ "Nile Rodgers interviewed by Peter Paphides". Twentyfirstcenturymusic.blogspot.com. November 10, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Menconi
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Billboard Hot 100 Chart History". Song-database.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
- ^ Billboard - Google Boeken. Books.google.com. December 8, 1979. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
- ^ a b George, Nelson (1988). The Death of Rhythm & Blues. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. p. 191. ISBN 0142004081. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ "The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper's Delight". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper's Delight" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "Top Singles - Volume 32, No. 18, January 26, 1980". RPM. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ InfoDisc
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Sugarhill Gang" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper's Delight". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper's Delight". VG-lista. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper's Delight". Singles Top 100. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper's Delight". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "Sugarhill Gang: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "The Sugarhill Gang Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ http://top.france.free.fr/html/annuel/1980.htm
- ^ "Canadian single certifications – Sugar Hill Gang – Rapper's Delight". Music Canada.
- ^ Sólo Éxitos 1959-2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979-1990 (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. ISBN 8480486392.
- ^ "British single certifications – Sugarhill Gang – Rapper's Delight". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Rapper's Delight in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ^ http://www.infodisc.fr/S_ToutTemps.php?debut=350
External links
- Rapper's Delight on National Public Radio
- Official Music Video
- Silver jubilee for first rap hit — BBC article about the single on its 25th anniversary
- The Story of Rapper's Delight by Nile Rodgers
- The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century - NPR