Sugarhill Gang releases 'Rapper's Delight' — first rap single to crack the Top 40

Why it matters

September 16, 1979. Sugar Hill Records released a 14-minute 12-inch single by three guys nobody had ever heard of (Big Bank Hank from the back of a pizzeria, Wonder Mike, Master Gee) over a rebuilt bassline from Chic's "Good Times." That single was "Rapper's Delight." It is the song that punched rap into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #36. It is the song that proved you could sell this. There are two things to understand about "Rapper's Delight" before you call it the first rap record. It is not, as we have noted. "King Tim III" preceded it by six months. And the Sugarhill Gang itself was not a real Bronx group. Big Bank Hank had gotten famous bars from Grandmaster Caz, uncredited, who would spend the rest of his life noting it. But what "Rapper's Delight" did is what better-prepared first records often do not. It moved units. It got radio play. It made every record label in New York realize the kids in the Bronx had a product.