Rap It Up

It’s hard to say exactly where this rap phenomenon began. Of course, one could make an argument pinpointing James Brown—the self-proclaimed Godfather of Soul—as the original rapper. In fact, Brown often makes the claim himself. But the first hitmaker most people think of in any discussion of rap’s musical roots is Kurtis Blow, who hit the scene with his party anthems in the early ’80s. Soon Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five followed with their provocative “The Message,” proclaimed by many as the best single of 1981—and a socially-conscious one at that. Soon it was the Fat Boys, Run-DMC and so on. Run-DMC had a huge crossover hit with their cover of Aerosmith’s heavy metal anthem, “Walk This Way.” Their pals, the Beastie Boys, soon followed. The concept was unique. A trio of three white boys, goofing around with the rap cliches and motifs and fighting for their right to party. The album went to the very top of the Billboard charts. Everyone’s rappin’ now—from Lou Reed to Rodney Dangerfield to McDonald’s commercials.