Making the top five in the pop charts, it helped make Run-DMC the first hip-hop superstars – bringing an endorsement deal with Adidas in the process – and gave way to a new rap-rock genre. The single, accompanied by a memorable video in which the two bands clashed while rehearsing in conjoined studios, was an instant hit. Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and DJ Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell had already crowned themselves the Kings of Rock long before they decided to rework Aerosmith's 1975 single "Walk This Way". In the early 1980s, a young trio from Queens, New York, were determined to get in on the burgeoning hip-hop phenomenon – but rather than follow in the colourful, funky style of their predecessors, these guys were determined to raise hell with arrogant rhymes and a machismo too fascinating to condemn.
The practice of sampling has never gone away in rap circles – only nowadays artists are a little more careful in getting clearance from the originals' writers. Chic member Nile Rodgers later heard the Gang's version at another party and threatened to sue, before settling out of court and allowing the 15-minute song to make it to number three in the UK. Its tongue-twisting lyrics – "I said a hip, hop, a hippie, a hippie to the hip hip hop, and you don't stop" – and funky groove were created by the Sugar Hill Gang after they heard "Good Times" at a party and spontaneously freestyled over it. Based around a remix of "Good Times" by R'n'B band Chic, it was the first official hip-hop record to become a commercial hit. These four key elements, DJing, MCing, breakdancing and graffiti, had merged to become the four pillars of hip-hop – and popular culture would never be the same again.Ī song that single-handedly sums up the spirit of hip-hop music, "Rapper's Delight" was an instant party-starter. Throw in his "rapping" – rhythmic announcements that later became the sole job of the master of ceremony, or MC – and you have the revolutionary birth of hip-hop music. He discovered a way to emphasise the "break" (the part of a record where the kick drum is most prominent) to get inner-city kids on the dance floor at his parties, and used this point to mix one song with another, with the help of two turntables.
Hip-hop DJs in the early 1970s were defined more than anything by their technique, captivating funk fans in a way never before ventured – and their way was led by Jamaican-born spinner Kool Herc in the Bronx. How Hip Hop Changed the World, a new documentary airing this week on Channel 4, will examine the story of the movement and how it has influenced pop culture – but for those who don't know their hips from their hops, here's a quick primer of the 10 most notable moments in the genre's history. Yet, refusing to give in to early prophecies that it would come and go, the genre continues to thrive 35 years on, spilling over from music into art, fashion, TV and film. When hip-hop emerged in the 1970s, it aspired simply to capture the sentiments, camaraderie and frustrations of inner-city New York.
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