1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: a show that spits the greatest hits of history one 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: day at a time. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: talking about the controversial origin of the first commercial rap 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: recording in music history, the iconic and lengthy Rappers Delight. 7 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: The day was January five, Rappers Delight by the sugar 8 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: Hill Gang became the first hip hop song ever to 9 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 1: break into the Billboard Top forty. The single landed at 10 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: number thirty seven for the week ending January five, and 11 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: it later creeped up a spot to number thirty six. 12 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: The song's appearance in the Top forty signaled the transition 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: of hip hop from a largely under round art form 14 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: to a mainstream commercial genre. It was a clear outlier 15 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: among other popular acts of the time like Kenny Rogers, 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: Abba and Casey in the Sunshine Band, but many Americans 17 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: were itching to leave the disco era behind, and Rappers 18 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: Delight provided the brand new sound they had been looking for. 19 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: It's unlikely that you've never heard the song before, but 20 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: just in case, it goes like this, I said a 21 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: hit inhibited a hit hobby. You don't stop the record 22 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: to the band name, but you say up jumped the 23 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: Bigot to the rhythm of the Big Bat. Now what 24 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: you hear is not a testop rappid to the B 25 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: and me the groove and my friends are gonna try 26 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: to move defeat seem In the nineteen seventies, hip hop 27 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: wasn't well known outside of the music scene in the 28 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: Bronx and Harlem, and even in those neighborhoods, you couldn't 29 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: walk into a record store and buy a hip hop album. 30 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: If you wanted to hear mcs rapping and DJ's scratching, 31 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: then you had to go to a club or a 32 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: house party and hear it live for yourself. At the time, 33 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: pioneering performers like DJ Grandmaster Flash, d J cool Herk, 34 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: and Curtis Blow weren't recording their music. In fact, they 35 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: worried that if they did, people would lose interest in 36 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: their live shows and the little income they were earning 37 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: from their music would disappear. That may have been true 38 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: if the only audience for hip hop were the people 39 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: who lived in the neighborhoods where it was first being played, 40 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,119 Speaker 1: But one New Jersey businesswoman believed the music could actually 41 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: have much wider appeal. Her name was Sylvia Robinson, and 42 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine she experienced hip hop for the 43 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: first time, like most other people in those days, live 44 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: at a nightclub in New York City, she was amazed 45 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: by a DJ named love Bug Starsky, who spinning R 46 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: and B records and leading the crowd through spoken word 47 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: rhymes set to the beat. She later recalled the moment 48 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: saying quote, I saw him talking to the kids and 49 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: saw how they'd answer back. He would say something every 50 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: now and then, like throw your hands in the air, 51 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: and they do it. If he had said jump in 52 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,679 Speaker 1: the river, they'd have done it. A spirit said to me, 53 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: put a concept like that on a record, and it 54 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: will be the biggest thing you ever had. Sylvia had 55 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: no ties to hip hop, but she did know a 56 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: lot about the music business. Throughout the nineteen seventies, she 57 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: found success as an R and B singer, both in 58 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: a group and as a solo act. By seventy nine, 59 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: she had made the switch to producing, and the untapped 60 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: potential of hip hop seemed like a promising next move. 61 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: Rather than approach and existing act, Sylvia decided to put 62 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: together a brand new group herself. She enlisted her son 63 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: Joey Robinson for help and finding a good MC, and 64 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: lucky for her, he knew just the guy. Joey drove 65 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: his mom to Crispy Crust Pizza and Inglewood, New Jersey 66 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: to pay a visit to one of the employees there, 67 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: a man named Henry Jackson a k A. Big Bank Hank. 68 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: Jackson graciously used his lunch break to audition for Sylvia, 69 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: which he did by climbing into the backseat of her 70 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: car and rapping along to a backing track played on 71 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: a cassette deck. Joey had also scouted two other promising 72 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,239 Speaker 1: local m c s, Guy O'Brien a k A Master 73 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: G and Mike Wright a k A Wonder Mike. They 74 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: joined the impromptu audition, and when Sylvia liked what she heard, 75 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: she dubbed the newly formed trio the sugar Hill Gang 76 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: after the sugar Hill area of Harlem. All of that 77 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: happened on a Friday afternoon, and by the following Monday, 78 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: the group gup was ready to record their first track 79 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: at a studio in Englewood. That's a quick turnaround for 80 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: a whole new song so the group opted to put 81 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: their own spin on an existing rhythm track. Instead, Sylvia 82 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: chose the hit disco song good Times by the band 83 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: Chic as the backbone of the recording. However, since time 84 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: was tight, no one reached out to the band for 85 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: permission to use the track. That decision eventually led to 86 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: a lengthy lawsuit, which was settled out of court for 87 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: an undisclosed sum. When it was time to record, Sylvia 88 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: threw on good Times and the three rappers huddled around 89 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: a mic in the cramped studio booth. Sylvia pointed to 90 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: each rapper when it was their turn at the mic, 91 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 1: and despite having barely rehearsed, they made it through the 92 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: epic fifteen minute track with hardly any mistakes. It was 93 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: a good thing too, because Big Bank Hank didn't have 94 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: much time to spare. He was due back at the 95 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: Crispy Crust within the hour. If you're wondering how the 96 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: fledgling group came up with fifteen minutes worth of lyrics 97 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: in less than seventy two hours, well they had some 98 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: help with that too. Big Bank Hank actually took most 99 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: of the lyrics from his friend and fellow MC grand 100 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: Master Kaz of the Cold Crush Brothers. Kaz later described 101 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: the interaction saying, quote, Hank asked me if he could 102 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: borrow my rhyme book, So I just threw it on 103 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: the table. I was kind of nonchalant about it. I'm 104 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: not thinking anything is going to come from it, and 105 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 1: if it did by happenstance, then all right, well, hey, 106 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: he comes from us, so if there's any trickle down, 107 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: it'll trickle down to us. And as far as trying 108 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: to protect myself, and we didn't know about lawyers and 109 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: publishing and writers and mechanical royalties or nothing like that, 110 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: we weren't part of the music industry. In the end, 111 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: Rappers Delight did what no one, including Kaz had expected did. 112 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: It became an international hit, And even though Kaz didn't 113 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: make money from the song or even get a writing credit, 114 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: he never sued the group. Instead, he chose to keep 115 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: moving forward, eventually signing to Tough City Records and releasing 116 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: his own albums. For hip hop purists, it's bitter sweet 117 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: that Rappers Delight became most listeners introduction to hip hop. 118 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: From their perspective, there were other rappers much more deserving 119 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: of the honor ones who wrote their own lyrics and 120 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: came up with their own beats, or at least asked 121 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: permission to use somebody else's. But there's no one element 122 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: that made Rappers Delight a great song. Instead, it's everything 123 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: working together. The baseline of sheiks track, the clever, unexpected 124 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: rhymes of Grandmaster Kaz and the raw vocal stylings of 125 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: three m c s who had just met three days earlier. 126 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: The beats and lyrics may have come from other artists, 127 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: but still via Robinson, Big Bank, Hank, Master G and 128 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: Wonder Mike put their own spin on all of it, 129 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: improvising in the studio to make the song their own. 130 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: When Rappers Delight was released in December nine, it was 131 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: a smash hit from the start. It's shot to number 132 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: four on the US Hot Soul Singles chart and eventually 133 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: peaked at number thirty six on the Billboard Hot one hundred. 134 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: Outside the US, the track was even more successful. It 135 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: topped the charts in the Netherlands, Canada, and Spain, and 136 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,599 Speaker 1: made it into the top five and nine other countries. 137 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:43,079 Speaker 1: All told, the twelve inch single sold over two million copies, 138 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: proving that there was plenty of interest and money in 139 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: hip hop recordings. Despite the unusual origins of rappers delight, 140 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: the song was a game changer for the butting hip 141 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: hop genre. The Sugar Hill Gang never had another hit, 142 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: but every apper and group that followed OH is at 143 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: least a small debt of thanks to the group that 144 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: paved their way, even if they'd rather not admit it. 145 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little 146 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd 147 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:20,839 Speaker 1: like to keep up with the show, you can follow 148 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d i 149 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,719 Speaker 1: HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 150 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: you can send them my way at this Day at 151 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: i heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for 152 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll 153 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: see you back here again tomorrow for another Day in 154 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: History class. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit 155 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where ever you 156 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.