Rapper's Delight
| Rapper's Delight | |
|---|---|
| Sugarhill Gang | |
| publication | November 9, 1979 |
| length | 14:37 |
| Genre (s) | Hip hop |
| Author (s) | Bernard Edwards , Nile Rodgers , Sylvia Robinson , Michael Wright, Guy O'Brien, Hank Jackson |
| album | Sugarhill Gang |
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Rapper's Delight is a rap song from the music trio Sugarhill Gang from 1979, which is now classified as hip-hop . It was written by Bernard Edwards , Nile Rodgers , Sylvia Robinson , Michael Wright, Guy O'Brien, and Hank Jackson.
background
Successful songwriter and producer Sylvia Robinson came up with the idea for a hip-hop song when she heard someone rap to a beat in the background at a children's birthday party. The hip-hop scene was an underground scene up until then, and since there was no established MC who wanted to make a commercial recording, they put together a trio of their own and named it Sugarhill Gang after their own label Sugar Hill Records. The three musicians called themselves Big Bank Hank, Wonder Mike and Master Gee and are actually called Henry Jackson, Michael Wright and Guy O'Brien.
When beat they used the Discohit Good Times by Chic , who had been a 1979 number-one hit. The original authors Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers were not asked for permission, they were only subsequently listed as co-authors and shared in the proceeds. The beat was also re-recorded because sampling was not yet widespread at the time, but it was also slightly modified. The constant disco fun of the original with rhythm guitar and piano turned into a chorus-like background beat with fade-ins. The recording lasted 14 minutes and was recorded in one piece, which is why it was also released as a maxi single . A shorter version of the piece was released for Europe and US radio.
The single was released on September 16, 1979 and entered the US charts a little later. In the soul charts she reached number 4 and in the official single charts she reached number 36 and received gold for one million records sold. The piece was also successful in Europe, where it was a top 5 hit in numerous countries. It is controversial whether this is the first hip-hop recording , but in any case it was the first internationally commercially successful hip-hop single and thus the pioneer of the new genre in the record industry. The track was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the defining song of the era. According to the music magazine Rolling Stone , the piece was ranked 251 of the 500 best songs of all time in 2010 .
The Sugarhill Gang released their album The Sugarhill Gang in 1980 with Rapper's Delight as the main song. Internationally, the song remained the trio's only real success. Up until 2004, the piece hit the British charts three more times : in 1986 on a split single with We Got the Funk by Positive Force as the second side, as a 1989 remix by Ben Liebrand and in 2004 after being used in an episode of the series Scrubs . Only in the USA did the trio have a few minor successes beyond the song with their second album.
Cover versions and allusions
The song has been covered several times since its inception by various musicians , including in 1997 jointly by Erick Sermon , Redman and Keith Murray and in 2004 by Coolio .
The German-language cover version Rapper's Deutsch by GLS-United (consisting of Thomas Gottschalk , Frank Laufenberg and Manfred Sexauer ), created in 1980 , is considered one of the first German-language rap pieces. The NDR radio presenter Günter Fink made a parody called Rapper's Fink .
The 1983 song Alpenrap by the Austrian band Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung is stylistically reminiscent of Rapper's Delight and contains an allusion to the song (the text speaks of “Seppl's Delight”).
The Russian cover version Рэп ( rap ) was released in 1984 by Час пик.
The Austrian singer Falco used parts of the opening lines several times, first in 1985 for Urban Tropical (B-side of Rock Me Amadeus ) and the following year for the song The Sound of Musik . Again a reference to this can be found in the title Body Next to Body published in 1987 .
The summer hit Aserejé , which the Spanish girls' trio Las Ketchup released in 2002 and which was released in Europe as The Ketchup Song , is also based on Rapper's Delight . He describes the story of the dance-obsessed Diego who does not understand the English text of his favorite song. The chorus line "I say the hip-hop, the hip ..." becomes the Spanish gibberish "Aserejé ja dejé ...".
In 2009, the Sugarhill Gang was a guest at the Lala Song by the Frenchman Bob Sinclar , who in some places reminds of Rapper's Delight and was successful in the charts on the European continent.
In 2014, a video clip in which fragments of conversation by US presenter Brian Williams from the editorial team of the American late-night show The Tonight Show were cut together in such a way that it appears as if he was rapping this song, achieved a great success on the Internet video portal YouTube and other social networks.
In 2019 the song was used in the current commercial by Paco Rabanne for 1 Million and Lady Million .
swell
- ↑ a b Sources chart placements: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Rapper's Deutsch (GLS-United) in the German charts
- ↑ Pop songs and their backgrounds: Sugarhill Gang: Rapper's Delight Jochen Scheytt, 2008
- ↑ 35 Years Ago, Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight' Made Its First Chart Appearance , Joe Lynch, Billboard, October 13, 2014
- ↑ Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7
- ↑ Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of all time (2010 Edition). May 10, 2013, archived from the original on May 10, 2013 ; accessed on April 12, 2015 .
- ^ Text by Alpenrap at Verunsicherung.de, accessed on November 17, 2016
- ↑ Johann Voigt: Rap from Russia Part 1: How rap became the most important music in Russia , Noisey ( Vice Media ), March 14, 2018. Accessed April 16, 2018.
- ↑ The story of the "Ketchup Song" , NDR1 Lower Saxony, accessed on November 17, 2016
- ↑ Lyrics: The Ketchup Song at Metrolyrics, accessed on November 17, 2016
- ↑ Lala Song (Bob Sinclar) at hitparade.ch
- ↑ Brian Williams Performs 'Rapper's Delight' on 'Tonight Show' (video) , Hilary Lewis, The Hollywood Reporter, February 20, 2014
- ↑ #MillionNation - 1 Million & Lady Million | PACO RABANNE