Single Rapper's Delight is Released, Introducing Hip Hop Music to Mainstream Audiences (1979)

Rapper’s Delight is a 1979 hip hop single by the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although Rapper’s Delight was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band’s King Tim III (Personality Jock), the single is credited with introducing rap music to a wide audience, reaching the top 40 in the United States, as well as the top three in the United Kingdom and number one in Canada.

Rapper’s Delight was ranked at number 251 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2010, and number 2 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs.” The song is also included on NPR’s list of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century. It was preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2011 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

The writers of Rapper’s Delight include Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Sylvia Robinson, Henry Jackson, Michael Wright, Guy O’Brien, Curtis Brown and William Hankshaw (who was uncredited).

According to Discogs, there are two USA 12 inch pressings of Rapper’s Delight that received proper credits for “Chic Music Inc.” but don’t show the song being written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. There are four original USA 12 inch pressings that received proper credits for “CHIC Music Inc.,” but also shows the song being co-written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.

The song’s intro is an interpretation of Here Comes That Sound Again by British studio disco group Love De-Luxe. The track is formed extensively from the bass line from Chic’s Good Times which originally was not cleared or credited to Chic. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards threatened legal action over copyright, which resulted in a settlement and their being credited as co-writers.