"Rapper's Delight" - The Sugar Hill Gang

This is a really fun song! As we discussed in class, "Rappers Delight" is considered as the song that introduced hip hop to the general public. It's kind of a big deal. For being the first of its kind, this song does a really good job and kicked off the genre with a bang (in my opinion). The song itself is pretty long, with the original version clocking in at around 14:35, although there are 6 and 3 minute versions available. The bass line is not original to the song, it is the taken from "Good Times" by the band, Chic. Credit to Chic for coming up with the sound, because regardless of who you are, there's something about it that makes you want to groove. It provides the perfect, fun background to support the lyrics. "Rappers Delight" wouldn't be the same without the baseline. That doesn't mean that the baseline is the only good thing about the song. Throughout the song, the different rappers use a mix of lyrics and nonsense words to really bring out the fun atmosphere of the song. The words that don't make any sense add to the groove and give it a carefree feel. On top of that, the lyrics can be really random. In the beginning the song is about the rappers telling how awesome they are and how all the women love them. But then at some point the lyrics take a turn and start talking about eating a disgusting dinner at a friends house and how you don't want to eat it so you sit there getting nauseous. Pretty random. I don't really know what the thought process was behind those lyrics, but the Sugar Hill Gang got away with it so obviously something about it worked