SUGARHILL GANG - RAPPER’S DELIGHT

Publicació: 16 de setembre de 1979

Llistes: Regne Unit: #3  EUA: #36

"Rapper's Delight", va ser la primera aposta seriosa per posar un disc de rap al  capdevant de la música popular, i va funcionar. Aquesta va ser la primera cançó de rap que va entrar al Billboard Hot 100 dels EUA. Va entrar al #84 la setmana del 10 de novembre, va assolir el Top 40 (al #37) el 5 de gener, aconseguint el #36 una  setmana després. Aquestes posicions a les llistes poden semblar modestes, però aconseguir l'atenció nacional d'una cançó de rap va ser tot un èxit, fent de "Rapper's Delight" una cançó fonamental en la història del hip-hop. 

La música rap havia començat uns set anys abans, però normalment s'escoltava a discoteques on els DJ feien ritmes breakbeat i els MC (master of ceremony) afegirien veus en directe. Fora del Bronx, el rap es considerava generalment una moda, i les discogràfiques no tenien cap interès a finançar-lo. La primera cançó de rap llançada comercialment va ser "Kim TIM III" de la Fatback Band, que va sortir a l'estiu de 1979, però va ser relegada a la cara B d'una melodia més tradicional de R&B.

L’èxit d’aquesta cançó va obrir les portes a molts artistes de rap. Molts d'aquests llançaments van ser al segell Sugarhill, que va ser la llar de Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Spoonie Gee i un grup femení anomenat Sequence. A desembre de 1979, Kurtis Blow es va convertir en el primer raper a llançar un senzill en un segell important quan va publicar "Christmas Rappin'". Fins i tot Kurtis Blow admet que "Rapper's Delight" va vendre més còpies que la seva cançó "The Breaks", que va ser el primer senzill de rap certificat com a disc d'or. Però Kurtis va signar amb el segell multinacional Mercury Records, que va fer la seva deguda diligència amb el procés de certificació. "Rapper's Delight" segurament va vendre més d'un milió de còpies, però no hi ha cap registre oficial ni cap certificació. Això era habitual per a segells més petits que no enviaven els seus registres a la RIAA i sovint es dedicaven a la comptabilitat creativa per justificar vendes.

"Rapper's Delight" va utilitzar músics reals per recrear el ritme de "Good Times" perquè la tecnologia no existia per convertir-lo en un sample. L'única manera de fer-ho seria empalmar la cinta. "Good Times" va ser escrit pel guitarrista i productor de Chic Nile Rodgers i el baixista Bernard Edwards. Rodgers va escoltar "Rapper's Delight" per primera vegada quan estava a un club i el DJ la va posar. Després d'amenaçar amb una demanda, es van canviar els crèdits d’autor de la cançó. Originalment, els tres rapers de Sugarhill Gang i la seva cap de segell, Sylvia Robinson, n’eren els autors, però després del conflicte els únics compositors que hi figuren són Rodgers i Edwards, que reben tots els drets d'autor de la cançó.

"Rapper's Delight" va ser un èxit major al Regne Unit, que va anar un pas per davant dels Estats Units en quant a l’acceptació generalitzada de la música rap. L’artista  local que va tenir un primer èxit de rap al Regne Unit van ser Wham!, que van arribar al número 8 amb "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What you do)" al ​​1983. Blondie es va convertir en el primer grup blanc en arribar al número 1 als EUA amb una cançó de rap amb "Rapture". 

Al principi "Rapper's Delight" no es va publicar en àlbum, només com a single i maxi-single, perquè Sugarhill Records no pensava que un àlbum sencer de música rap es vendria. Amb això no van estar gaire encertats. 

SUGARHILL GANG - RAPPER’S DELIGHT

Released: September 16, 1979

Charted:  UK: #3 US: #36

"Rapper's Delight," was a serious push to get a rap record into the mainstream, and it worked. This was the first rap song to enter the US Hot 100. The song reached the Hot 100 (at #84) on the chart dated November 10, and cracked the Top 40 (at #37) on January 5, peaking at #36 a week later. These chart positions may look modest, but getting a rap song national attention was quite an accomplishment, making "Rapper's Delight" a seminal song in hip-hop history. The winning formula was boastful lyrics over a sampled beat - a technique that became ubiquitous in rap.

Rap music had been around for about seven years, but it was usually heard at block parties and discos where DJs would loop breakbeats and MCs would add live vocals. Outside of the Bronx, rap was generally considered a fad, and record companies had no interest in financing it. The first rap song commercially released was "Kim TIM III" by the Fatback Band, which came out in the summer of 1979, but was relegated to the B-side of a more traditional R&B tune.

This song opened the floodgates for many more rap records. Many of these releases were on the Sugarhill label, which was home to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Spoonie Gee, and a female group called Sequence. In December 1979, Kurtis Blow became the first rapper to release a single on a major label when he put out "Christmas Rappin’". Even Kurtis Blow concedes that "Rapper's Delight" sold more copies than his song "The Breaks," which was the first rap single certified as a Gold record. But Kurtis was signed to the major label Mercury Records, which did their due diligence with the certification process. "Rapper's Delight" surely sold well over a million copies, but there's no official record of it, and no certification. This was common for smaller labels that didn't submit their records to the RIAA and often engaged in creative accounting.

"Rapper's Delight" used real musicians to re-create the "Good Times" rhythm because the technology didn't exist to make it into a sample loop. The only way to do it would be splicing tape together, and that could get choppy. But Sugarhill Gang didn't just use the "Good Times" beat; the string stabs were also lifted (these were samples, played from the record), so the entire "Delight" track was made up of pieces from the Chic song. "Good Times" was written by Chic's guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers and bass player Bernard Edwards. Rodgers heard "Rapper's Delight" for the first time when he was out at a club and the DJ played it. After he threatened a lawsuit, the credits on the song were changed. Originally, the three Sugarhill Gang rappers and their label boss Sylvia Robinson were listed as the song's writers, but now the only composers listed are Rodgers and Edwards, who receive all the songwriting royalties it brings in (Edwards' share goes to his estate, as he died in 1996).

This was a far bigger hit in the UK, which was a step ahead of America when it came to widespread acceptance of rap music. In England, where there is a large Jamaican population, rap music wasn't too far removed from the reggae music that featured "toasters" who added vocals over breaks in the music.

At first, this was not released on an album, only as a 12" single, because Sugarhill Records didn't think an entire album of rap music would sell. It has since appeared on numerous compilation albums.

Blondie became the first white act to chart with rap when they hit #1 with "Rapture" also in 1980. A homegrown act that had an early rap hit in the UK was Wham!, which went to #8 with "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What you do)" in 1983.