The Hip Hop Cultural Movement

The Hip-Hop, cultural movement gained its widespread popularity in the 1980s and ’90s. The first rap song that was commercially released was in the summer of 1979, called "Kim Tim III (Personality Jock)" by the Fatback Band, but was relegated to the B-side of a more traditional R&B tune. Even though “Kim Tim III” was the first Hip Hop song commercially released the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” has been widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain widespread popularity in the mainstream. Before both of these songs were released, Hip Hop 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 their own live vocals. Outside of the Bronx, rap
was considered a fad, and record companies weren’t interested in financing it (Song Facts). “Rapper’s Delight,” became the first known rap hit. “Rapper’s Delight,” reached #36 on the US to 40 Billboard in January 1980. The original song was 15 minutes and it was recorded in a single take in 1979. The rap consisted of boastful lyrics over a sampled beat which was a technique that became rap. In the song the Sugarhill Gang, is rapping over the top of the baseline to Chic's song "Good Times". The first Hip Hop hit, “Rapper’s Delight,” was the necessary push that Hip Hop needed to make the Cultural Movement more mainstream.