Rap History 1984 Mix - Dejoe
Moving on to 1984, we kick things off once again with a mix from Berlin's Rap History crew, this time a one hour mix from Rap History resident Dejoe.
Listen to the mix on Mixcloud, read what the compiler has to say about the mix and check out the tracklist here.
Classic Material Edition #1 Mixtape Part 1 (1979-1983)
So, as we complete the entries for 1983, it's only right that we give you a quick reminder of the first of our Classic Material mixtapes before moving on to the events of 1984. With a cover graphic inspired by arguably the most influential label of hip hop's disco era, Sugarhill Records, the mix covers a selection of disco rap's better known cuts plus a few of the lesser heard for good measure.
Listen or download here.
1983 - Notable Releases
The most notable rap single releases of 1983 (alphabetical by name of artist):
10-Speed - Tour De France
4 Killer M.C.'s - Killer Rap
Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force - Looking For The Perfect Beat
Airplay - Troy The Wonder Boy And Duck
All Ages - Ages Rap
B Beat Girls - Jungle Swing
B.E.B. - Hotdog
B+ - B-Beat Classic
B-Boys, The – Two, Three, Break
Bobby Stringer - The Sarge
Boo-Dah Bliss Crew - Pass The Boo-Dah
Break Machine - Street Dance
C.O.D. - In The Bottle
Canute - Amazing Mind
Captain Jones - Space Dawg
Captain Rapp - Bad Times (I Can't Stand It)
Captain Rock - The Return Of Capt. Rock
CD III - Get Tough
Chapter Three - Smurf Trek
Chilltown - Rock The Beat
City Rappers Band - Sundden Move Syndrome
Clair - Ya Dog
Cosmic Touch - Nothing Ever Changes
Crash Crew - On The Radio
Crash Crew - We Are Known As Emcees (We Turn Party's Out)
Cutmaster D.C. - That's Life
Cybotron - Clear
Dark Star - Sexy Baby
Debbie Deb - When I Hear Music
Dimples D. - Sucker DJ's (I Will Survive)
Disco 3 - Reality
Disco Daddy - Zodiac Rhymes
Disco Four - Throwdown
DJ Divine - Get Into The Mix
Donald Banks - Status Quo
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - Gettin' Money
Dynamite Two - Can't Stop (Till I Reach The Top)
Fantasy Three - Biters In The City
Fantasy Three - It's Your Rock
Farrari - Simon Says Dance
Felix & Jarvis - Jam The House
Freestyle - Summer Delight
Freestyle Express - Freestyle
Fresh 3 MC's - Fresh
Funky Four - Feel It (The Mexican)
G.L.O.B.E. & Whiz Kid - Play That Beat Mr. D.J.
Garrett's Crew - Nasty Rock
Gary Byrd & The G.B. Experience - The Crown
George Clinton - Nubian Nut
George Nooks & The Electrons - Computer Reggae
G-Five - Keep It On
G-Force Featuring Ronnie Gee & Captain Cee - Feel The Force
Glen Adams and D.J. Freeze - Chicken ScratchGrandmaster Caz & Chris Stein - Wild Style Theme
Grandmixer D. ST. - Crazy Cuts
Hashim - Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)
Herbie Hancock - Rockit
Home Boy And The C.O.L. - Money's Funny Change Is Strange
Hurt 'Em Bad And The SC Band - The Boxing Game
Ice "T" - The Coldest Rap
Interface - Robot Love
Jazzy Dee - Put It To The Test
Jenny Burton - Remember What You Like
Jimmy Spicer - Money (Dollar Bill Y'all)
Jonny Bankcheck - The Runaway
Ken 'C' - Get Outta My Face
Kevie Kev (Waterbed Kev) - All Night Long (Waterbed)
Kevin Fleetwood And The Cadillacs Of Sound - Sweat It Off
Kilowatt - Kil-O-Watt
Kinetic Force - Wait Take A Minute
Krome - Get On Up
Lambchops - Bus Stop
Lemon Lime - The Hollyweird Game
Leon Kittrell And Formula V - Killer Groove
Little Toni Marsh - Video Burnout
Magic Mike Crew - Magic Mike Theme
Maniacs - Sweet Ladies
Maurice Starr - Electric Funky Drummer
Maxine Dee & Dr. Jyve - Don't Do That Rap
MC Connection - Burnin' For Another Shot
Men At Play - Dr. Jam (In The Slam)
Monzie-D & Too Quick - Intelligence
Newcleus - Jam On Revenge
NJ 4 - How Many Girls You Got
Osé - Computer Funk
Otis Clay - Love Bandit
P.C. Crew - Get Fresh - Get Fresh (Break Dance)
Project Future - Ray-Gun-Omics
Rammellzee vs. K-Rob - Beat Bop
Rhythm Makers Ltd. - Party Rap
Rich Cason And The Galatic Orchestra - Year 2001 Boogie
Rickey G & The Everloving Five - To The Max
Robert Schröder - Space Detective
Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic 3 - It's Life
Royal Cash - Radio Activity
Run-D.M.C. - Hard Time
Run-D.M.C. - It's Like That / Sucker M.C.'s
Shango - Shango Message
Sine - Rotation
Slingshot - You Shook Me All Night Long
Solo Sound - Chilly
South Bronx Movement - You've Got The Power To Get High On Yourself
Spoonie Gee - The Big Beat
Spyder C - Unity (In The Place To Be)
Starr's Computer Band - Computer Rock Control
Steve Green - Video Reaction
Stockingcap - Wave Craze
Sugarhill Gang - The Word Is Out
Supa-Rap - Bills
Sweet G - Games People Play
Synergy - Project 5
Terry Lewis And Wildflower - The Peoples Message Take Two
The "P" Crew - Busy Body
The Art Of Noise - Into Battle
The B-Boys - Rock The House
The Beat Boys - Be Bop Rock
The Caution Crew - Rhythm Rock
The Caution Crew - Westside Storie
The Cold Crush Brothers - Punk Rock Rap
The Computer People Communicator - Talking And Scratching (For The People)
The Extra T's - I Like It (Corn Flakes)
The Increadible T. H. Scratchers - Hip-Hop-Bommi-Bop
The Jazzie Ladies - Blowin' Your Mind
The Jonzun Crew - Pack Jam (Look Out For The OVC)
The Micronawts - (I Can Do It...You Can Do It) Letzmurph Acrossdasurf
The Motor City Crew - Let's Break
The Plainwrap Band - The Ghetto Bird
The Public - Win Jesse Win
The Radio Crew - Breakig And Entering
The Rake - Street Justice
The Rock Steady Crew - (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew
The Russell Brothers - The Party Scene
Tilt - Arkade Funk
Tim Greene & The Philly Four MC's - Let's Get Exotic
Time Zone - The Wildstyle
Tony Davis - Bootie Whip
Tranquilizing Preview / Tranquilizing 3 - Vote Like You Party / A Fact Of Life
Trans-Lux - Big Apple Noise
T-Ski Valley - Cut It Up
T-Ski Valley - The U.S.A. Is The Best
T-Ski Valley & Grand Groove Bunch - Never Let Go
Twilight 22 - Electric Kingdom
Twilight 22 - In The Spirit
Valerie Oliver - (GTM) Get The Money
Vericheri - Ultra-Sonic Breakdance
Verycheri - 69 Cancer Sign
Warp 9 - Beat Wave
West Street Mob - Break Dancin' - Electric Boogie
Whodini - Rap Machine
Whodini - The Haunted House Of Rock
Wuf Ticket - The Key
Xena - On The Upside
X-Visitors - Hokey Pokey
X-Visitors - The Planet Doesn't Mind
List produced with the assistance of Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and Spitfire's Hip Hop On Wax database.
For a comprehensive list of Rap and related releases from the year with label and release info, Rap History has a helpful database.
1983 - Club Flyers
Selection of club flyers from 1983 designed by Buddy Esquire, "King of the Flyer". I particularly like the Pac Jam Record Co flyer "celebrating 10 years of hip hop", which gives some indication of just how long New York had a coherent hip hop scene before the first hip hop records were released in 1979.
1983 - A Year in Rap
Produced with some assistance from Mr Wiggles of the Rock Steady Crew's 'Hip Hop Timeline', here is a round up of some of the significant hip hop related events of 1983:
- Revered jazz musician Herbie Hancock (pictured above) drafts in the DJ skills of Grandmixer DST to perform scratches on his hit single 'Rockit' taken from the album 'Future Shock'.
- DJ Afirka Islam, son of hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa starts his own hip hop radio show on New York's WHBI. The same year Afrika Islam wins the New Music Seminar DJ battle in Los Angeles.
- Hip Hop documentary Style Wars is aired on PBS in the USA. The film featured appearances from genuine figures from graffiti underground of the day including Mare 149, Skeme and Seen.
- Hip Hop spreads its influence further on the international stage with the 'Wild Style' tour taking the Cold Crush Four and Rock Steady Crew to Japan.
- Rock Steady Crew appear in the hit movie Flash Dance.
- Rock Steady Crew also appear in the video for Malcolm Mclaren's Buffalo Gals single taken from the 1983 album 'Duck Rock'.
- B-Boy crews also appeared in music videos for artists outside the hip hop fraterntity. The New York City Breakers appeared in the video for Gladys Knight and the Pips' 'Save the Overtime for Me'
- New York punk band the Beastie Boys release the first of their records to experiment with new recording technology and the hip hop sound. The A-side 'Cookie Puss' placed scratching and recorded phone calls over drum machine programming.
- Rammelzee & K Rob release the leftfield classic 'Beat Bop' produced by renowned New York artist Jean Michel Basquiat.
Rap History 1983 Mix - Roscow (Jazzanova) & DJ Runex
Yes, that's right, another 1983 Rap History mixtape. This time, we have a great mix put together by Jazzanova's Roscow and DJ Runex, tocuhing on boogie rap classics and a few related 80s soul joints from the likes of Mtume. Tastefully mixed in a style which, in their own words, pays tribute to the Latin Rascals.
Listen to the mix on Mixcloud here.
The Rub - History of Hip Hop Mix 1983
Continuing with another mix documenting the music of 1983, we have another offering from New York's Rub DJs.
Listen to their 1983 mix on Mixcloud here or download from the Rub blog here.
Rap History 1983 Mix - DJ Scientist
Moving on to 1983, we kick things off once again with a mix from Berlin's Rap History crew, this time a half hour mix from DJ Scientist which he describes as "28 minutes about money and hard times".
Listen to the mix on Mixcloud, read what the compiler has to say about the mix and check out the tracklist here.
1982 - Notable Releases
The most notable rap single releases of 1982 (alphabetical by name of artist):
Afrika Bambaataa & The Jazzy 5 - Jazzy Sensation (Remix)
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock
Ah-Boo - Jungle Pack Man
Aural Exciters - Chinese Rap
Azymuth - May I Have This Dance
Began Began - Computer Wars
Began Began - Stay In Touch
Blaze - We Come To Jam
Blowfly - Business Deal
Bon Rock & Cotton Candy - Junior Wants To Play
Bunny Wailer - Back To School
Busy Bee - Making Cash Money
Captain Rock - Cosmic Glide
Carver Area High School Seniors - Get Live '83
Cat Claw - Out In The Streets
Chris Thomas - Celebrity Funk
Cold Crush Brothers - Weekend
Connie Case - Get Down
Count Coolout - Touch The Rock (Rhythm Rap Rock Revival)
Cybotron - Cosmic Cars
D.J. Magic Ray And The Undefeated Three - Unity Rap
Disco Four - Country Rock And Rap
Disco Four - We're At The Party
Disco Four - Whip Rap
Dizzy Heights - Christmas Rapping
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - Jeckyll And Hyde Dance
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - The Challenge
Drum Machine - Drum Machine
Dwayne Omarr - This Party's Jam Packed
Edwin Birdsong - She's Wrapped Too Tight (She's A Button Buster)
Electrik Funk - On A Journey
Extra T's - E.T. Boogie
Extrol (E.S.P.) - E.S.P.
Eye Beta Rock - Super Rock Body Shock
Fab 5 Freddy - Change The Beat
Falco - Der Kommissar (Rap' That)
Felix & Jarvis - Flamethrower Rap
Funkmaster General - L.A L.A
Funky Four - Do You Want To Rock
Futura 2000 - The Escapades Of Futura 2000
G. & G. Rhytmn Section - Funkadelic Funk
G. & G. Rhytmn Section - Hankie Pankie Funk
Galaxxy - We Like To Party
Grand Master Flash - Flash To The Beat
Grand Wizard Theodore & The Fantastic Romatic Five - Can I Get A Soul Clapp
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message
Hurt 'em Bad - N.B.A. Rap
Hurt 'em Bad And The SC Band - Monday Night Football
Infinity And Grandmixer D.ST. - Grandmixer Cuts It Up!
Interboro Rhythm Team - Watch The Closing Doors
J. Griffin - Rock Attack
Jahneen - Gigolette
Jalil - Smirfathon U.S.A.
Jimmy Spicer - The Bubble Bunch
Just Four - Games Of Life
Just Four - Girls Of The World
Just Four - Jam To Remember
Kasso - Key West
Ken Lewis - Cosmic Cars
King Josey - Keep On Dancin' (Rap All Night)
Kool D.J. A.J. - Ah, That's The Joint
Kool Kyle - Getting Over
Kurtis Blow - Tough
Lavaba & E. Mallison - A Game Of Life
Lazerock - The Ballad Of Mr. T.
Les Love & The Love Kids - Let's Get It On
Malcolm McLaren - Double Dutch
Malcolm McLaren And The World's Famous Supreme Team - Buffalo Gals
Man Parrish - Hip Hop Be Bop (Remix)
Man Parrish - Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)
Man Parrish - Man Made
Masterdon Committee - Gonna' Get You Hot
Maximus III - Rock It Out
MC Chocolate Star / The Professor - The Pop / Space Walking & Slow Walking
MC Romeo - Give A Little Bit To Ethiopia
MC Sweet - Jesus Christ
Melle Mel & Duke Bootee - Message II (Survival)
Mr. JC - School Days
Mr. Magic - 2001 Kazoo's
Mr. Sweety G - We Want To Get Down
Nairobi - Funky Soul Makossa
Orbit - The Beat Goes On
P.L. - I Don't Know What It Is
Phase 2 - The Roxy
Phoenix - Be Happy (Live, Love, Laugh)
Pieces Of A Dream - Mt. Airy Groove
Planet Patrol - Play At Your Own Risk
P-Man - Rock It Baby
Portable Patrol - Cop Bop
Pressure Drop - Rock The House (You'll Never Be)
Q - The Voice Of "Q"
Quadrant Six - Body Mechanic
Radiänce - This Is A Party
Ramsey 2C-3D - Fly Guy And The Unemployed
Rappers Rapp Group - Rappers Rapp Theme
Reggie Griffin & Technofunk - Mirda Rock
Rich Little - President's Rap
Ricky Clark - Flam
Ron Hunt – Spider
Ronnie Hudson & The Street People - West Coast Poplock
Ronnie Jones - Don't Turn Around (The Kommissar)
Sandy Kerr - Thug Rock
Shock - Electrophonic Phunk
Silver Star - Eei Eei O
Soul-Sonic Force - Planet Rock (Adams Family Mix)
South Bronx - The Bottom Line
Spyder-D - Smerphies Dance
Sugarhill Gang - The Lover In You
Sunburst Band - Easton Assassin
Super 3 - When You're Standing On The Top
The Computer People Communicators - Hey Party People
The Crash Crew - Breaking Bells (Take Me To The Mardi Gras)
The Evasions - Jocks Rap (The Passage)
The Fearless Four - It's Magic
The Fearless Four - Rockin' It
The Jonzun Crew - Pak Man (Look Out For The OVC)
The Masterdon Committee - Funkbox Party
The Murphys - Murphy's Jive Law
The Packman - I'm The Packman (Eat Everything I Can)
The Sequence - Simon Says
The Smurfs - Smurf For What It's Worth
The World Of Mazehe - Everybody What's The Word
Tony Cook & The Party People - Do What You Wanna Do
Treacherous Three - Whip It
Tribe 2 - What I Like
Trigger Finger And The Space Cadets - Video Freak (Defent It)
T-Ski Valley - Big Stuff
T-Ski Valley - Catch The Beat
T-Ski Valley - Sexual Rapping
T-Ski Valley - The Jam Is On
Tyrone (Tystick) Brunson - Sticky Situation
Tyrone Brunson - The Smurf
Verticle Lines - Beach Boys
Warp 9 – Nunk
West Street Mob - Ooh Baby
Wham! - Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)
Whodini - Magic's Wand
Wuf Ticket - Ya Mama
X-25 Band - Black Hole Bop
List produced with the assistance of Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and Spitfire's Hip Hop On Wax database.
For a comprehensive list of Rap and related releases from the year with label and release info, Rap History has a very comprehensive database.
Classic Material store offers!
Well, the Classic Material sale is now over and we are in full swing preparing for our new range in collaboration with Foot Patrol to be released this summer. In the meantime, however, we’re pleased to offer the last few tees in two of our most popular designs at the reduced price of £15. Limited sizes remain in very limited quantities so don’t sleep!
Grab an Edition #5 or Edition #6 t-shirt for just £15 plus postage from the online store here.
Final week of the Classic Material 25% online sale
Just a quick reminder that there is just one week left of our 25% Spring Sale. All items except photography prints are reduced by 25% until the end of February. That brings box sets down to £24, t-shirts to £18 and CDs to just £5. Take advantage while the deals remain by visiting www.classicmaterial.co.uk/shop (online store tab above).
Final week of the Classic Material exhibition
All good things must come to an end and the Classic Material exhibition at City Arts and Music Project is no exception. This week will be the final week that the exhibition is on display, so if you've not yet had a chance to check it out, take yourself along to the City Arts and Music Project for a look while you still have the chance. The work will be taken down on 28th of February so we're extending an open invite to friends and anyone else who would like to come along to pop in for a beer or two on the evening of Monday 27th to say goodbye to the exhibit and also offer a few bargains on Classic Material products as a thanks for everyone's support. Hope to see you there...
Classic Material’s Chris Read interviewed by Oliver Wang for Soul Sides
A week or so ago Classic Material's Chris Read was fortunate enough to have been interviewed by renowned hip hop / funk / soul journalist and author Oliver Wang for his excellent Soul Sides website. If the name Oliver Wang is not familiar to you, then get familiar: he counts amongst his achievements material written for almost every major stateside hip hop publication (amongst them The Source, XXL, Vibe, Scratch and so on), is author of the aptly titled ‘Classic Material’ hip hop album guide and oversees the Soul Sides compilation series (cover art above). Oliver currently writes for publications including the LA Times and Wax Poetics not to mention being a doctor of ethnic studies and assistant professor of sociology at California State University.
Recent guests also to appear on Oliver’s ‘Side Bar’ podcast series include heavyweights such as PUTS’ Thes One, Quantic and soul legend Mike James Kirkland so we are pleased for Chris to be in such great company.
Listen to the interview here.
Classic Material Spring Sale - 25% off Boxsets, T-Shirts and CDs
We are pleased to announce our Spring Sale is now on, offering 25% off all boxsets, t-shirts and CDs. Visit the online store to take advantage of our generosity!
Classic Material Exhibition update: Normski prints for sale
First up we’re pleased to announce that the Classic Material exhibition at the City Arts and Music Project has been extended into February so if you’ve not been down to check out the work yet, there’s still plenty of time.
We’re also very pleased to let you know that more of the work is now available to purchase online. Five prints by legendary UK street style photographer Normski are now available to purchase from the Classic Material online store. There are five prints in total, each printed on 200gsm matt stock, signed by the artist and embossed. Prints are priced at £50 each.
More about Normski:
Normski exploded onto the public stage in the early 90s as presenter of BBC2’s groundbreaking Def 2 and Dance Energy shows, broadcasting the under-represented elements of the UK’s dance music culture and black music as whole to a new audience.
For many years prior Normski had been documenting the rise of hip hop culture in the UK and UK club culture through photography. As a key figure on the UK’s early hip hop scene, Normski enjoyed unparalled access to rising stars of the home grown scene and touring acts from the US who appear in his own particular brand of portrait photography. Well known subjects appearing in Normski’s work include the likes of Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and Public Enemy. In recent years, Normski’s photographic works have experienced a renaissance with high profile exhibitions at venues across the UK.
(Image: Big Daddy Kane, copyright Normski photography)
Classic Material Exhibition update: Mr Krum prints for sale
With about three weeks of the Classic Material exhibition left to run, it’s about time we let those of you unable to attend how you can get your hands on the work on show. One of our three exhibitors, Mr Krum, has set up an online store ‘Cold Rock Stuff’ where you can purchase each of the 4 prints on display in the show for the very reasonable price of £45, or a set of five (which includes a bonus print unavailable elsewhere) for the all in price of £150.
Visit the Cold Rock Stuff store.
More about Mr Krum:
Vinyl Veteran Mr Krum combines an in depth knowledge of music history with a passion for vinyl and the skills of seasoned designer to produce original works which draw influence from a variety of sources. Having recently applied his skills to record sleeve cover art for artists including DJ Format, The Simonsound and Soundsci, his work is currently in demand: Forthcoming releases for which Mr Krum has been enlisted to provide artwork include numerous members of New York’s hip hop underground royalty, amongst them the likes of Grap Luva, DJ Spinna feat Oxygen and Lord Finesse.
Mr Krum is exhibiting a collection of four 12″ x 12″ prints which combine a vinyl cover art aesthetic, obscure musical references and an irreverent sense of humour.
Visit Mr Krum’s blog.
Classic Material Exhibition at City Arts and Music Project (December 2011 - January 2012)
We interupt our somewhat eratic series of chronological blog posts to give you some information on the exhibition we currently have in residence at the City Arts and Music Project (70-74 City Road, London). Marking the end of our 14 month series of club night events, the exhibition curated by Chris Read and Nick Armitage displays the work of Classic Material designer John Brotherhood alongside a collection of 80s and 90s hip hop photography from UK street style icon Normski and the irreverant hip hop inspired design work of Mr Krum.
All work on display is for sale and priced at between £20 and £100 including limited edition prints and one offs. More information on the artists:
NORMSKI:
Normski exploded onto the public stage in the early 90s as presenter of BBC2’s groundbreaking Def 2 and Dance Energy shows, broadcasting the under-represented elements of the UK’s dance music culture and black music as whole to a new audience.
For many years prior Normski had been documenting the rise of hip hop culture in the UK and UK club culture through photography. As a key figure on the UK’s early hip hop scene, Normski enjoyed unparalled access to rising stars of the home grown scene and touring acts from the US who appear in his own particular brand of portrait photography. Well known subjects appearing in Normski’s work include the likes of Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie and Public Enemy. In recent years, Normski’s photographic works have experienced a renaissance with high profile exhibitions at venues across the UK.
Normski will be exhibiting a selection of his photographs dating from the late 80s and early 90s displayed on a variety of media alongside a collection of 5 limited edition prints.
JOHN BROTHERHOOD:
As a member of the WeLikeOurJob team, John Brotherhood is the man behind the majority of design work for Chris Read’s Music of Substance club night, website and mixtapes. With a shared passion for the design elements of hip hop’s history, John was a natural choice as Classic Material’s in house designer. Currently responsible for the runnings of London’s Foot Patrol sneaker emporium, John continues to be active as a deisgner.
John will be exhibiting a collection of 14 designs produced for the Classic Material series, each comprising a logo associated with a popular underground record label active during a year or era covered by one of the Classic Material events.
MR KRUM:
Vinyl Veteran Mr Krum combines an in depth knowledge of music history with a passion for vinyl and the skills of seasoned designer to produce original works which draw influence from a variety of sources. Having recently applied his skills to record sleeve cover art for artists including DJ Format, The Simonsound and Soundsci, his work is currently in demand: Forthcoming releases for which Mr Krum has been enlisted to provide artwork include numerous members of New York’s hip hop underground royalty, amongst them the likes of Grap Luva, DJ Spinna feat Oxygen and Lord Finesse.
Mr Krum will exhibiting a collection of four 12″ x 12″ prints which combine a vinyl cover art aesthetic, obscure musical references and an irreverent sense of humour.
The Rub - History of Hip Hop Mixes 1979 to 1982
So, a few years into documenting hip hop's early years here on the Classic Material blog, it came to my attention that New York's Rub DJs have just uploaded their Hip Hop History series onto Brooklyn Radio's Mixcloud page so we thought we would do a little catch up and bring ourselves up to date with the first four editions. Links for each appear below and further editions in the chronology will appear as we progress through the years (although if you want to go off and do a bit of exploring yourself the later editions are not hard to find).
The Rub History of Hip Hop - 1979
Listen to 1979 mix on Mixcloud / Download 1979 mix from the Rub blog
The Rub History of Hip Hop - 1980
Listen to 1980 mix on Mixcloud / Download 1980 mix from the Rub blog
The Rub History of Hip Hop - 1981
Listen to 1981 mix on Mixcloud / Download 1981 mix from the Rub blog
The Rub History of Hip Hop - 1982
Listen to 1982 mix on Mixcloud / Download 1982 mix from the Rub blog
Enjoy...
1982 - Club Flyers
Selection of club flyers from 1982 designed by Buddy Esquire, "King of the Flyer".
1982 - A Year In Rap
I have to confess that, despite best intentions to keep the blog part of this site up to date with events we've been promoting, it's been a struggle to find the time. But, with an exhibition on the horizon (more details coming soon) and projects for next year looming I'm going to do my best to pu that right. So, I'm picking things up where I left off some months back and moving on to the events of 1982. Produced with some assistance from Mr Wiggles of the Rock Steady Crew's 'Hip Hop Timeline', here is a round up of some of the significant hip hop related events of 1982:
- US Television network ABC's '20/20' show produces an episode that investigates the new cultural phenomenon becoming known as 'hip hop' featuring Afrika Bambaataa (pictured above)
- Charlie Ahearn's seminal movie 'Wild Style' is filmed and is heralded as a true and accurate representation of hip hop culture featuring key figures from the scene including Rock Steady Crew, Electric Force, Loose Bruce, Paulie Gee, Double Trouble, Cold Crush 4, Fantastic 5, Buzy Bee Starski, Lee, Pink, Daze, Crash and Zephyr.
- New York's 'Roxy Roller Rink' on 18th Street becomes known as one of the greatest hip hop clubs of all time under the management of Kool Lady Blue, providing a place where the downtown club crowds mix with local punk scene.
- Hip hop spreads its wings with US acts touring overseas. The "New York City Rap Tour" featuring Afrika Bambaataa, Rock Steady Crew, Phase 2, Double Dutch Girls, Grand Mixer DST, Infinity Rappers, Fab 5 Freddy, Ramellzee, Futura 2000 and Dondi travels to Europe showcasing New York's hip hop movement in all its forms.
- European hip hop movie 'Breakout' is filmed and features The Electric Company, Electric Force, Crash Crew, Debbie D, Wanda D, Grand Mixer DST and The Infinity Rappers.
- Kool Moe Dee triumphs over Buzy Bee in what goes down in hsitory as one of the most famous MC battles of all time.
- Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force record the Electro Funk classic 'Planet Rock' borrowing liberally from experimental European electronica artists Kraftwerk.
- Grand Mixer DST wins the New Music Seminar DJ battle.
- The first overseas issue of Print Magazine features New York graffiti artist Lee on its front cover and a includes a spread containing the photographs of Henry Chalfant of Subway Art fame showcasing the art of Dondi, Duro, Shy 147, Daze, Zephyr and Haze.
- Rock Steady Crew performs at the famous 'Studio 54' night club for the famed artist 'Antonio Lopez'.
- Rock Steady Crew's Poppin Squad 'The Electric Company' battles Double Trouble's 'Electric Force' at Club Negril.
- Rock Steady Crew splits into two groups. One half goes on to film the famous scenes in the Movie Flash Dance. The other half film scenes for a movie 'Portfolio' which is ultimately shelved.
Rap History 1982 Mix
Moving on to 1982, we kick things off again with a mix from Berlin's Rap History crew. This installment has been put together by the club's resident DJs, Marc Hype, Scientist and Dejoe. Check out the mix on Mixcloud.
1981 - Notable Releases
The most notable rap single releases of 1981 (alphabetical by artist name):
Afrika Bambaataa & The Jazzy 5 - Jazzy Sensation
Black Super Man - Premium Black Super Man
Blondie - Rapture
Bo Kool - (Money) No Love
Bobby Deemo - Party Rap
Bobby Demo - More Ounce (Rap)
Bohannon - Let's Start II Dance Again
Bon-Rock & The Rythem Rebellion - Searching Rap
Brothers Unique - School Daze
Bumble Bee Unltd. - The Bumble Bee Rap
Busy Bee - School Days
Capt. Crunch & The Funky Bunch - The Gigolo Groove
Captain Chameleon - Grab Them Cakes
Captain Sky - Station Brake
CatClaw & The Better Love Crew - The Golden Rule
Chatsworth & Burt - Preppy Rap (Do The Alligator)
Cholly Rock & Avenue B Boogie Band - Cash Money
Cotton Candy - Having Fun
Count Coolout - Rhythm Rap Rock
Debbie Harry - Backfired
Dennis Franks & The Liberty Bells - Eagles Battle Cry
Disco Daddy & Capt. Rapp - The Gigolo Rapp
Doctor Ice - Calling Doctor Ice
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - Genius Rap
Eddie D - Adlib
Europ Express - Rapp Call You
Five Points - Equality
Flakes - Take It To The Max
Flame & The Dynamite Three - Work Your Body
Fly Guy - Fly Guy Rap
Funkapolitan - As The Time Goes By
Glory - Let's Get Nice
Grand Master Chilly-T & Stevie G - Rock The Message Rap
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - It's Nasty (Genius Of Love)
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Birthday Party
Junie - Rappin About Rappin
Juny Boom - Rules Of The Game
Kool Kyle (The Starchild) - It's Rockin Time
Kurtis Blow - It's Gettin' Hot
Kurtis Blow - Starlife
Liaisons Dangerous - Los Ninos De Parque
Little Starsky - Dancin' Party People
Lonnie Love - Young Ladies
Lovebug Starski & Harlem World Crew - Positive Life
Mike T - Do It Any Way You Wanna
Missy Dee & The Melody Crew - Missy Missy Dee
Mistafide - Equidity Funk
Motorcycle Mike - Super Rat
Mr. Sweety G - At The Place To Be
Pee Wee Mel And Barry B. - Life On The Planet Earth
Pookey Blow - Get Up (And Go To School)
Russ Mason - Prep Rap
Sangria - To The Beat Y'all
Sinister Two - Rock It, Don't Stop It
Smash - Blue Jeans
Solo Sound - Get The Party Jumpin
South Bronx - The Big Throwdown
Spanish Fly & The Terrible Two - Spanglish
Spoonie Gee - Spoonie Is Back
Star Quality & Class - Betcha Got A Dude On The Side
Sugar Daddy - One More Time
Sugarhill Gang - Apache
Sweet G - A Heartbeat Rap
T.J. Swan - And You Know That
T.J. Swann & Peewee Mel & Barry B - Are You Ready
T.J. Swann & Peewee Mel And Swann Controllers - Maximus Party
T.J. Swann And Company - Get Fly
The Afternoon Delights - General Hospi-Tale
The Boogie Boys - Rappin' Aint No Thing
The Crash Crew - We Want To Rock
The Disco Four - Do It, Do It
The Evasions - Wikka Wrap
The Furious Five Meets Sugarhill Gang - Showdown
The Master Rappers - Poverty
The Mean Machine - Disco Dream
The Reen-Machine - Rap-A-Reenie
The Sequence - Funky Sound (Tear The Roof Off)
The Treacherous Three - Put The Boogie In Your Body
Times Square - You're Hot
Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood
Toney Rome - On The Radio
Treacherous Three - Feel The Heartbeat
Trouble Funk - Holly Rock
Universal Two - Dancing Heart
Vaughan Mason & Krush - Breakers Anthem
Vin Zee - Funky Bebop
Wayne & Charlie (The Rapping Dummy) - Check It Out
West Street Mob - Let's Dance
Yella - Yella!!
List produced with the assistance of Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and Spitfire's Hip Hop On Wax database.
For a comprehensive list of Rap and related releases from the year with label and release info, Rap History has a very comprehensive 1981 database.
1981 - Club Flyers
Selection of club flyers from 1981 designed by Buddy Esquire, "King of the Flyer".
Enjoy Records 1979 - 1981
Whilst looking for something else the other day, I stumbled on an excellent article written by Kirk Degiorgio on the hip hop output of Bobby Robinson's Enjoy Records label from 1979 to 1981. The article, which gives an overview of each of the labels 12 inch releases during those years is reproduced in its entirety below, but if you would like to read it from Kirk's blog complete with label scans for each release, you can do so here.
FUNKY FOUR PLUS ONE MORE - RAPPIN AND ROCKING THE HOUSE
Enjoy #6000 featured the North Bronx rap crew Funky Four Plus One More (Keith Keith, KK Rockwell, Lil' Rodney C, Jazzy Jeff and female rapper Sha-Rock). The crew were also known as Bros. Disco - running a well-respected sound system named the Mighty Mighty Sasquatch fronted by DJ Breakout and DJ Baron. It's a well known fact that the Sugar Hill Gang were hastily put together specifically by Sylvia Robinson to record "Rapper's Delight" - they were not an established rap crew. "Rappin' and Rocking The House" along with The Younger Generation's "We Rap More Mellow" is therefore one of rap's first authentic releases by a rap crew out in the field - running through routines they had performed on the Bronx block party scene. Drummer Erol "Pumpkin" Bedward (pictured above) and friends provided a typically funky backing track that ran for more than 16 minutes on the A-side.
GRANDMASTER FLASH AND THE FURIOUS FIVE - SUPERAPPIN'
Enjoy #6001 saw the second appearance of The Younger Generation on vinyl - this time under their regular name Furious Five, alongside their legendary Bronx DJ Grandmaster Flash. The uncredited Enjoy house band lay down another lengthy backing track - with the rhythm guitar playing the bass-lick from B-Boy classic "Seven Minutes Of Funk" - no doubt a Grandmaster Flash favourite. The Furious Five - Cowboy, Mr. Ness, Rahiem, Kid Creole and Melle Mel - go through their quick-fire routines and make this one of early rap's most solid releases.
SPOONIE GEE AND THE TREACHEROUS THREE - LOVE RAP
Enjoy ER-6002 was the label's first release of 1980. A double-A sided release "New Rap Language" b/w "Love Rap", it featured both early rap pioneer Spoonie Gee - nephew of label owner Bobby Robinson - and the rap crew Treacherous Three (Special K, LA Sunshine and Kool Moe Dee). Again, this release has gone down as one of early rap's most solid examples - especially the "speed-rapping" style displayed on "New Rap Language" which took rap skills to a new level and elevated the importance of "flow". Pumpkin & Friends are once again credited, along with conga player Pooche Costello. The Spoonie Gee showcase "Love Rap" backed primarily by drums and percussion alone.
KOOL KYLE THE STARCHILD AND THE DISCO DOLLS - DO YOU LIKE THAT FUNKY BEAT
There is a gap in the catalog until Enjoy ER-6006, "Do You Like That Funky Beat", by Kool Kyle The Starchild. Also credited are female backing vocalists the Disco Dolls and Ronnie Ron & Crew - presumably the backing musicians. This release has a significantly bigger, more sophisticated production sound - less 'raw' than the previous Enjoy releases, including the female sung chorus chant and disco syn-drums. The rapper Kool Kyle Brinson was originally part of an expanded Furious Seven with Grandmaster Flash and later released tracks on Frills and Profile Records.
THE TRACHEROUS THREE - THE BODY ROCK
Enjoy ER-6007 saw the return of The Treacherous Three with another purist rap track - this time Pumpkin credited alongside Damond and Jeff, laying down a slower slice of funk for their tight routines.
THE TREACHEROUS THREE - AT THE PARTY
Enjoy ER-6008, possibly cut at the same session as ER-6007 features an identical line up - this time augmented by female party effects and a lead synth line hinting at the opening melody of B-Boy classic "Daisy Lady" by 7th Wonder.
THE DISCO FOUR - MOVE TO THE GROOVE
ER-6009 and ER-6011 were 7 inch and 12 inch alternative edits of the Furious Five's "Superrappin'", possibly released after the outfit had moved to Sylvia Robinson's Sugar Hill label. Sandwiched in between was ER-6010 "Move To The Groove" by The Disco Four - Mr Troy, Country, Kool Gee and Ronnie D plus Harmony - another solid group rap backed with a funky rhythm track and party effects.
DOCTOR ICE - CALLING DOCTOR ICE
ER-6012 was Enjoy's first release of 1981 - a decent release with an original backing track, licensed by Virgin for the UK Rap Tracks compilation.
THE TRACHEROUS THREE - FEEL THE HEARTBEAT
ER-6013 was a rap version of the Taana Gardner hit on West End Records "Heartbeat" - which used a cover version with party effects as its backing track. "Heartbeat" is acknowledged in the intro and Kenton Nix - it's original writer - is label credited.
KOOL KYLE - IT'S ROCKIN TIME
ER-6014 was Kool Kyle's follow-up to "Do You Like That Funky Beat". Pumpkin & Friends cook-up a backing groove based loosely on "Is It In" by Jimmy Bo Horne.
THE DISCO FOUR - DO IT DO IT / THE TREACHEROUS THREE - PUT THE BOOGIE IN YOUR BODY
ER-6015 & 6016 were 7 edits of earlier releases. ER-6017 and ER-6018 were both licensed by Virgin UK for the Rap Tracks compilation - solid releases by Disco Four and The Treacherous Three. "Do It, Do It" featured great brass hooks and quick-fire rap routines. "Put Your Boogie In Your Body" is a rap over a fierce slice of boogie with a keyboard bass-line and horn line echoing Parliament's P. Funk classic "Flash Light". These were the final rap releases of 1981 from the Enjoy label before they expanded into more R&B material and entered the electro era.
1981 - A Year In Rap
So, we move on to the events of 1981, produced with some assistance from Mr Wiggles of the Rock Steady Crew's 'Hip Hop Timeline', here is a round up of some of the significant hip hop related events of 1981:
- Punk / Rock group Blondie release “Rapture”, a track on which singer Debbie Harry raps, name-checking members of the New York hip hop community Fab 5 Freddy and Grand Master Flash (pictured above). Grandmaster Flash goes on to sample the record in his “Adventures of Flash on the Wheels of Steel”.
- Later the same year Grand Master Flash releases the seminal “Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel”, the first DJ led record of its kind.
- Funky Four plus One make their first national TV appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live
- DJ Whiz Kid wins the New Music Seminar DJ battle.
- Cold Crush 4 battle the Fantastic 5 at the Harlem World club. Fantastic 5 win the closely contested and controversial battle.
- On March 6th, “Flash vs Crash” takes place at the Audobon Ballroom, featuring the huge line up of DJ AJ, Afrika Bambaataa, Soul Sonic Force, Cosmic Force and Fantastic 5.
- NOC paints the famous “Style Wars” top to bottom whole car.
- The Fashion Moda gallery on 3rd Avenue in the Bronx runs exhibitions featuring the likes of Crash, Lee, Daze, Kel Shy 147 and others.
- Rock Steady Crew battle Dynamic Rockers at the Lincoln Center. The dance clash is covered by National Geographic.
- Locker / Popper “Cool Pockets” from the dance group Chain Reaction appears in the video for Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks” single.
Rap History Munich 1981 Mix
Sometimes, one year specific mix just isn't enough, and that's why Rap History Berlin's counterparts in Munich have added to the Rap History series with their own selection of mixtapes. Rap History Munich's Florian Keller has put together a solid selection 1981 disco rap, which you can check out on Mixcloud.
Rap History 1981 Mix
So, we move on to the goings on of 1981. This time round we kick things off with Rap History Berlin's latest mix, a rundown of rap and related funk from 1981. This edition is mixed by the Rap History residents, Scientist and Dejoe. Check out the mix on Mixcloud.
1980 - Notable Releases
The most notable rap single releases of 1980 (alphabetical by artist name):
Afrika Bambaataa & The Cosmic Force / Harlem Underground Band - Zulu Nation Throw Down
Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force - Zulu Nation Throw Down Volume #2
Barry & Demo - Another One Bites Rap
Barry & Demo - Your Magic Rap
Black Bird & Kevski - On The Go
Blowfly - Blowfly's Christmas Party / Blowfly's New Year's Party
Blowfly - Rapp Dirty
Blowfly - The Incredible Fulk
Bo Kool - (Money) No Love
Bobby & Demo - Do It Right (Rap)
Bobby / Demo - More Ounce Rap
Bobby Mann - Body Rockin' Rap
Brother D with Collective Effort - Dib-Be-Dib-Be-Dize / How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise?
Casper - Groovy Ghost Show
CC Crew - CC Crew Rap
Community People - Education Wrap
Count Coolout - Rhythm Rap Rock
Danny Renee & The Charisma Crew - Space Rap
Denyce Flip Isaac - Be For Real
Disco Dave & The Force Of The 5 MC's - High Power Rap
DJ Hollywood - Hollywood's Message
DJ Hollywood - Shock, Shock The House
Don Covay - Badd Boy
Don Juan & K. Dog - Jammin' On The One
Dr. Love & Sister Love - Doctor Love & Sister Love Rap
Dr. York - Roll-A-Rock
Family Four - Rap Attack
Frankie Smith - Double Dutch Bus
Frederick Davies & Lewis Anton - Astrology Rap
Funky Four Plus One More - That's The Joint
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Freedom
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Super Rappin' No.2
Harlem World Crew - Let's Rock
Harlem World Crew - Rapper's Convention
Ikim & Bacardi - Funk Rap
Jackie "Small" Cochran - Summer Fun
Jimmy Spicer - Adventures Of Super Rhyme (Rap)
Johnnie & Michael Hill - Party Night
King Monkey - Badd Mann Dann Rapp
King Tim III - Charley Says! (Roller Boogie Baby)
Kool Kyle The Starchild & The Disco Dolls - Do You Like That Funky Beat (Ahh Beat Beat)
Kurtis Blow - The Breaks
Land Of Hits Orchestra / Little Starsky - Gangster Rock
Lonnie Love - Young Ladies
M. Brathwaite & W. Carter - Father Goose
Margo's Kool Out Crew - Death Rap
Master Jay - We Are People Too
Master Jay & Michael Dee - T.S.O.B.
Max 'N Specs - Don't Come Stoned And Don't Tell Trude
MC Rock Lovely - One Time Two Time Blow Your Mind
Mr. B - Rapper - Dapper - B
Mr. Fox - Smooth Talk
Mr. Magic - Potential 1980
Mr. Magic - Rappin' With Mr. Magic
Mr. Q - Coming Home
Naomi Peterson - Sweet Naomi Rap
Nice & Nasty 3 - The Ultimate Rap
Nuri - Let's Vote
Otis Williams - I Love The Way You Love Me
Outlaw Four - Million Dollar Legs
Phil-Marilyn & Marilyn - Buggs-B-Skate
Prince Blackman - Rockers Delight
Rappermatical 5 - Party People
Rappermatical 5 - Party People (Remix)
Rickie Clark - Ladies Rights
Ronnie Gee - Raptivity
Ronnie Jones & Disco Circus - Let's Do It Again / Cosmo Rap
Sharod - School'n (Put Your Mind To The Message)
She / Clappers Revue - Ms. DJ Rap It Up! / Rap It Up Dubwise
Sound On Sound - The Incredible Hump
Sound On Sound Productions - Season's Greetings
Sound On Sound Productions - Tribute To The Greatness
South Bronx - The Big Throwdown
Spoonie Gee & The Treacherous Three - The New Rap Language / Love Rap
Spoonie Gee Meets The Sequence - Monster Jam
Spyder-D - Big Apple Rappin' (National Rappin' Anthem)
Spyder-D - Rollerskaterap / Spinnin' Webs & Rappin' Rhymes
Sugar Daddy - Another One Bites The Dust
Sugarhill Gang - 8th Wonder
Sugarhill Gang - Hot Hot Summer Day
Sula - Jungle Rap
Super 3 - Philosophy Rappin' Spree
Super Wolf - Super Wolf Can Do It
Super-Jay - Santa's Rap Party
Sweet G - Boogie Feelin' Rap
Tanya Winley - Vicious Rap
Teen-Machine - Teen-Machine Rap
The Big Mouth Band - The Box
The Chill Factor - Keep On Trying
The Disco Four - Move To The Groove
The Jackson Two - Oh Yeah
The Jazzy Three - The Rappin' Spree
The Love Rapper - The Lover's Rapp
The Marvelous Three & The Younger Generation - Rappin' All Over
The Sequence - And You Know That
The Unknown Rapper - Election 80 Rapp
Treacherous Three - At The Party
Treacherous Three - The Body Rock
Trickeration - Rap, Bounce, Rockskate / Western Gangster Town
Xanadu / Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Sure Shot / Do The Dance
Zoot II - Dr. Ice Rap
(links are to official videos or live performances of the named tracks)
List produced with the assistance of Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and Spitfire's Hip Hop On Wax database.
For a comprehensive list of Rap and related releases from the year with label and release info, Rap History has a very comprehensive 1980 database.
Rap History 1980 Mix
Another edition of Rap History Berlin's mixtape series, this time focussing on the output of 1980 and mixed by former ITF champion Marc Hype and Andre Langenfeld. The mix takes in disco flavoured rap cuts from the likes of The Sequence, Super 3, Tanya Winley, Jazzy Three and many more - well worth an hour of your time! Check out the mix on Mixcloud.
1980 - Club Flyers
Selection of club flyers from 1980 for events at the legendary T Connection and the Ecstasy Garage Disco clubs in the Bronx designed by Buddy Esquire, "King of the Flyer".
1980 - A Year In Rap
So, moving on to the events of 1980, produced with some assistance from Mr Wiggles of the Rock Steady Crew's 'Hip Hop Timeline', here is a round up of some of the significant hip hop related events of 1980:
- The number of commercially released rap records explodes with release statistics dwarfing those of 1979.
- The phenomenon of the rap album starts to take hold with long players from Blowfly, The Sequence and Kurtis Blow (pictured above) hitting the stores. (The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Sugarhill’ was the only rap long player of 1979).
- Seen paints the famous “Hand of Doom” top to bottom whole car and Dondi paints “The Children of the Grave” top to bottom whole car, both later featured in the centre spread section of Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant’s seminal “Subway Art”, the first commercially available book to document graffiti art and culture. Dondi died of an AIDS related illness in 1998. The Dondi White Foundation, founded after his death, uses contributions made in Dondi's memory to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.
- Fab 5 Freddy paints the pop-art influenced “Campbell’s Soup Cans” (as featured heavily in the work of Andy Warhol) top to bottom on the IRT line.
- Zapp releases the West Coast funk classic “More Bounce to the Ounce”, accepted by the West Coast poppers as a dance anthem and later heavily sampled in late 80s / early 90s hip hop.
- The New York Post reports the arrest of the High Times crew for B Boying in Washington Heights train station.
- Poppin Pete appears in the first music video to feature a break style dancer, Talking Heads' 'Crosseyed and Painless'.
- The popularity of hip hop events in commercial clubs rises. On Saturday November 15th, a jam takes place at New York’s Ecstasy Garage featuring one of hip hop’s biggest line ups; GW the Adore, Fantastic 5, Kool DJ AJ, Buzy Bee, Starski, Mean Gene, Gregski Mercedes Ladies, Fantasy 4, Erotic Disco Brothers and more.
- Another legendary jam takes place a month later: On December 19th, “A Slam Dunk Disco” features Sha Rock (of the Funky 4) vs Lil Bit (of Mean Machine) and Grandmaster Caz (of Cold Crush) vs Chief Rocker Starski and more.
1979 – The Birth Of Commercial Hip Hop?
It’s not unusual for someone to say to me in conversation “yeah, a lot of old hip hop was great, but it’s all so commercial these days”. It's an understandable thing to say, but the truth is I'd rather tell the person why I think they're wrong than politely nod and agree (which, being the easy option, I tend to do). I say that not so much because there is a wealth of creative and forward thinking hip hop still being released (although that is true), but more importantly because commercialism has been a fairly major aspect of hip hop more or less since the genre’s birth.
It’s not insignificant that hip hop’s first major hit, 1979’s “Rapper’s Delight” was performed by a group that was not, as some may have assumed at the time, a fixture of New York’s hip hop underground, but a group brought together by Sugarhill Records mastermind, Sylvia Robinson.
Sylvia Robinson (pictured above alongside Mickey Baker performing as 50s / 60s RnB duo “Mickey and Sylvia”), had experienced some success as a recording artist releasing the Bo Diddley penned hit “Love Is Strange” in 1957. Sylvia made her first moves into the publishing side of music in the late 60s, forming “All Platinum Records” with husband Joe Robinson in 1968.
Sylvia went on to have further success as a solo artist into the 70s, releasing the 1973 proto-disco cut “Pillow Talk”, a track originally written for but rejected by Al Green. With experience as both artist and publisher and a feel for what constituted a commercially viable club record, Sylvia was well placed to cash in on hip hop’s growing popularity and form the group that would have hip hop’s first hit, The Sugarhill Gang.
The rap phenomenon was quick to be adopted by mainstream culture with successful pop acts such as Blondie incorporating rap into their music as early as 1981. Throughout the 80s respected underground acts flirted with the more commercially accessible aspects of hip hop; LL Cool J attracted criticism from many of his peers following the release of his 1987 'love-rap' hit 'I Need Love' although many artists included similarly styled tracks on their albums in subsequent years. Other artists looked to the club for commercial success with the hip hop / house music hybrid of 'hip house' starting to make an appearance on albums from credible artists including EPMDand Craig G in the late 80s.
Over the years that followed, commercialism in hip hop has taken on a number of different guises. In the late 80s and early 90s ‘pop rap’ acts such as Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer would appear in stark contrast to the genre’s more hardcore proponents, who largely dismissed their output as not truly constituting hip hop at all. It would be easy to assume that commercial hip hop of the late 80s and early 90s was limited to that with a pop gloss, but there was another side to the coin. Revered underground acts of the era including NWA and Ice T clearly saw that the controversy caused by subversive political opinions and explicit depictions of violence in their lyrics could be exploited commercially. Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” is arguably the most overt example of use of negative press to raise profile and ultimately sell records that the genre has ever seen. Miami’s 2 Live Crew used graphic sexual imagery to similar effect. Ironically, the ‘Parental Advisory’ stickers introduced by the U.S. in an attempt to partially censor such content became worn on album sleeves almost as badges of honour and authenticity, and arguably helped boost sales of those releases for which the censors deemed the sticker necessary.
In the mid to late 90s, commercial hip hop took on a new face when a host of artists saw the potential for mainstream success with a hybrid of hip hop and the emerging RnB sound of the day. Building on the foundations laid by the ‘New Jack Swing’ sound of the early 90s, pioneered by producer Teddy Riley, Bad Boy Records producer Sean Puffy Combs played no small part in shaping the RnB hip hop crossover sound of the mid to late 90s. It’s not without irony that some of this emerging cross over style’s most important records were recorded by one of ‘real’ hip hop’s most revered stars, Notorious B.I.G.
Beyond the year 2000, hip hop has become well and truly established in the mainstream with a very obvious divide between musical stylings of the multi-platinum selling mainstream artists and the independent underground. Many would say that the commercial material of this era is characterised by the focus of the lyrics on wealth and success, but this is nothing new: the pursuit of wealth, cars and of course ostentatious gold jewellery were all prominent themes in many classics from the 80s underground. The defining characteristic of commercial hip hop from the last decade has been, perhaps more than anything else, the production style, with a well produced studio sound and glossy finish being the staple of many mainstream hits that might otherwise have been relatively underground records, artists such as 50 Cent and Dr Dre being obvious examples.
As we enter a new decade, hip hop continues to splinter in countless directions with new sub-genres of both commercial and undergound sounds emerging all the time. Many artists have enjoyed commercial success with uncompromising albums, Common and Cee-Lo being good examples. Many artists pursuing a traditionally commercial sound remain unsigned. One thing is certain though; commercialism remains somewhere in the mix.
If there were ever a time when it could be said that hip hop was created entirely without commercial concern, then those days were before the release of the first rap record in 1979, but that’s not something to lament. Were it not for Sylvia’s eye for a commercial opportunity, hip hop (commercial or otherwise) might never have lived beyond the streets of New York.
Rap History 1979 Mix
In much the same style as our Classic Material events in London, Berlin's Rap History crew have been running a monthly party documenting rap's history year by year over the last couple of years. Sharing our passion for the classic moments in rap's history we've exchanged opinions, mixes and DJ appearances over recent years. Here's a mix put together by Rap History residents DJ Scientist and Dj Dejoe for their 1979 party, which takes in notable rap, funk and disco tracks from 1979 in a pretty raw, vinyl only cut up sort of style: Listen to the mix via Mixcloud.
And for those of you who would like to dig deeper still, more impressive is former ITF Champion, Marc Hype's Rap History 'Prequel Mix', a deftly executed cut up of well known pre-rap breakbeats which formed the backbone of early rap jams and were later popularised by compilation series such as Ultimate Breaks and Beats.
1979 - Notable Releases
The most notable rap single releases of 1979 (alphabetical by artist name):
Bramsam - Move Your Body
David Lampell - I Ran Iran
Dr. Superman & Lady Sweet - Can You Do It (Superman)
Eddie Cheba - Lookin' Good (Shake Your Body)
Family - Family Rap
Fatback - King Tim III (Personality Jock)
First Class - Rappin' It Up
Funky Constellation - Street Talk (Madame Rapper)
Funky Four Plus One More - Rappin' And Rocking The House
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - Superappin'
Jazzy 4 MC's - MC Rock
Jocko - Rhythm Talk
Joe Bataan - Rap-O Clap-O
Kurtis Blow - Christmas Rappin'
Lady B - To The Beat Y'All
Lady D / MC Tee - Lady D / Nu Sounds
Mr. Q - D.J. Style
Mr. Q - Ladies Delight
Mr. Q - Love & Time
Neil B / Brooklyn Express - Body Rock / Body Rock
P.J. LaBoy - Baya Latinos
Paulette Winley & Tanya Winley - Rhymin' & Rappin'
Ron Hunt / Ronnie G & The SM Crew - Spiderap / A Corona Jam
Scoopy - Scoopy Rap
Sicle Cell & Rhapazooty - Rhapazooty In Blue
Solid C, Bobby D & Kool Drop - Wack Rap
Spoonin Gee - Spoonin Rap
Steve Gordon & The Kosher Five - Take My Rap...Please
Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight
The Sequence - Funk You Up
Troy Rainey - Tricky Tee Rap
Uno - Boogie Beat
Willie Wood & Willie Wood Crew - Willie Rap
Xanadu & Sweet Lady - Rapper's Delight / Rocker's Choice
Younger Generation - We Rap More Mellow
(links are to official videos or live performances of the named tracks)
List produced with the assistance of Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists and Spitfire's Hip Hop On Wax database.
For a comprehensive list of Rap and related releases from the year with label and release info, Rap History has a very comprehensive 1979 database.
1979 - A Year In Rap
So, here we are entering the fourth month of the Classic Material series and things are in full swing. Of the three events we've held to date, all have been enormously fun, musically inspiring and each has been busier and more vibrant than the last. Our product range has been a great success with all 4 CDs now sold out and early box set editions now close to sold out. One place we're yet to really get our game on though is the blog section of this site, but all that is about to change.
We had hoped to use this space not only to post updates on our own activities but also to share other bits and pieces of interest relevant to the eras celebrated at our events. To date we've not done much of that so there's a bit of catching up to do. So we're starting in the obvious place - 1979, hip hop's birth on wax. Produced with some assistance from Mr Wiggles of the Rock Steady Crew's 'Hip Hop Timeline', here is a round up of some of the hip hop related events that made 1979 a landmark year in rap history:
- Grand Master Flash forms what is to become known as one of the greatest MC crews of all time, “Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five MCs” (pictured), consisting of Grand Master Flash (Joseph Saddler), Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), Kid Creole (Nathaniel Glover), Cowboy (Keith Wiggins), Raheim (Guy Williams) and Mr Ness AKA Scorpio (Eddie Morris).
- Label mastermind Sylvia Robinson forms Sugarhill Records and selects the line up for the label's flagship rap act, The Sugrahill Gang. The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” becomes the first hit rap record, although there is later controversy over the source of the some of the lyrics in the song. Casanova Fly AKA Grand Master Caz (Curtis Fisher) of the legendary Cold Crush Brothers (who formed in 1978) lays claim to writing a portion of the lyrics in the song. He is generally accepted to be correct in his assertion although it has never been tested in the courts. Later the same year, The Sugarhill Gang release rap's first full length album, the self titled 'Sugarhill Gang'.
- Another of the Sugarhill label’s popular groups, “Funky Four Plus One More” is formed, consisting of KK Rockwell (Kevin Smith), Keith Keith (Keith Caesar), Lil Rodney Cee (Rodney Stone), Jazzy Jeff (Jeffrey Myree) and Sha Rock (Sharon Green). They later release the classic “That’s The Joint”. KK Rockwell and Rodney Cee go on to form "Double Trouble" who appear in the classic hip hop movie "Wildstyle". Sha Rock also goes on to form a new act joining two other female rappers in the group "Us Girls" who appear in the movie "Beat Street". Jazzy Jeff later has a legal battle with Jive Records over the use of his stage name following Jive's signing of Philadelphia duo "Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince".
- The Fatback Band’s “King Tim III (Personality Jock)" is the first record recorded by a non-rap group to feature a rap verse.
- Mr Magic’s “Disco Showcase” on New York’s WHBI station becomes the first radio show to showcase rap music, although his "Rap Attack" show (launched in 1981) is generally credited with being the first radio show to play exclusively rap. Mr Magic died in 2009, aged 53.
- The 15 year old Mark Bode, son of revered artist Vaughn Bode, starts work at a heavy metal magazine and continues his father's work, a huge influence to many in the early graffiti scene.
- A young Crazy Legs (Robert Colon) and cousin Lenny Len battle Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee of the Rock Steady Crew (formed in 1977) for a chance to become members of the crew. They lose but are accepted into the crew nonetheless.