RAP

HIP-HOP is the most commercially-successful music movement of the past two decades, and its first big chart hit was Rapper's …

HIP-HOP is the most commercially-successful music movement of the past two decades, and its first big chart hit was Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang (above). The recent Channel 4 documentary, The Hip-Hop Years, coincided nicely with the current old-skool revival, which has seen Rapper's Delight resurfacing in many a modern DJ set. Recorded for just $700, the song hit the UK Top Ten in 1979, and brought hip-hop from the New York streets into the world's livingrooms. Twenty years later, the Gang is still hangin' out, and they come to Dublin's HQ at the Hall of Fame next Friday to take us on a nostalgic trip down rap alley and perform tunes from their recent compilation album, The Best Of The Sugarhill Gang. The Gang may be a lot older and a little fatter, but they still promise to rip it up in true old-skool style.

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney is an Irish Times journalist