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Seven More Days that Rocked the World

The Release of Rapper's Delight

Duration: 30 minutes

First broadcast: on 6 MusicLatest broadcast: on 6 Music

As 6 Music celebrates hip-hop, there's another chance to hear Stuart Maconie recalling the release of Rapper's Delight by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979. It became a multi-platinum seller and massive radio hit, and is regarded to have kick-started the phenomenon of recorded hip-hop.

Despite having received considerable chart success, selling over 8 million copies worldwide and inspiring hits by the likes of Blondie and Queen, the music industry as a whole reacted contemptuously; insisting that rap was a short-lived trend, simply a whim or fad.

Stuart looks the ways the track inspired a generation; how three local New York rappers plucked from the relative obscurity of underground block parties contributed towards rap becoming the biggest selling and most popular genres in music today. Show less

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