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Post by woolebull on Mar 9, 2021 9:09:25 GMT -5
I was listening to an old show the other day and realized something that, for whatever reason, I had really never thought of: the lack of rap on American Top 40. I then tried to think of every rap song that hit the top 40 in the 80's. This is the list I came up with
1980
Rapper's Delight- Sugarhill Gang
1986
Walk This Way - Run DMC
1987
You Be Illin - Run DMC
(You've Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) - Beastie Boys
I Need Love - LL Cool J
1988
Push It - Salt-N-Pepa
Parents Just Don't Understand - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Supersonic - JJ Fad
A Nightmare On My Street - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Wild Thing - Tone Loc
1989
Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc
Expression - Salt N Pepa
Me Myself and I - De La Soul
Bust a Move - Young MC
Hey Ladies - Beastie Boys
Me So Horny - 2 Live Crew
Principal's Office - Young MC
Have I missed any? If not, then only 17 songs in the entire decade that were total "rap" (ie not with a rap in the middle of a song that is sung) songs hit the top 40. I find it absolutely wild that in the decade where rap became a staple of American music, so few songs hit the top 40. Thoughts? Let me know if I missed a song.
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Post by mga707 on Mar 9, 2021 11:11:42 GMT -5
Have I missed any? If not, then only 17 songs in the entire decade that were total "rap" (ie not with a rap in the middle of a song that is sung) songs hit the top 40. I find it absolutely wild that in the decade where rap became a staple of American music, so few songs hit the top 40. Thoughts? Let me know if I missed a song. Disagree with your statement above. Rap definitely did not become 'a staple of American music' in the 1980s. It was still considered a curiosity, especially on top 40 radio. Also, many station programmers were leery of programming too many 'total "rap"' records for fear of losing that part of their audience that absolutely hated the genre. By the '90s that would change, but not in the '80s. |
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Post by at40nut on Mar 9, 2021 11:25:51 GMT -5
I really don't consider "Rapper's Delight" the first rap song. I would consider Pigmeat Markham's 1968 hit "Here Comes The Judge" as the first "unofficial" rap song.
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Post by matt on Mar 9, 2021 11:57:41 GMT -5
Have I missed any? If not, then only 17 songs in the entire decade that were total "rap" (ie not with a rap in the middle of a song that is sung) songs hit the top 40. I find it absolutely wild that in the decade where rap became a staple of American music, so few songs hit the top 40. Thoughts? Let me know if I missed a song. Disagree with your statement above. Rap definitely did not become 'a staple of American music' in the 1980s. It was still considered a curiosity, especially on top 40 radio. Also, many station programmers were leery of programming too many 'total "rap"' records for fear of losing that part of their audience that absolutely hated the genre. By the '90s that would change, but not in the '80s. Agree with mga707 here -- rap was really just getting its footing during the 80's and was still largely and "underground" genre until the end of the decade. MTV probably helped to give rap a boost in the late 80's when they started airing the program "Yo MTV Raps" with Ed Lover and Fab 5 Freddy. I remember a lot of dudes in my HS being into that show. The 90's is when rap really took off and became mainstream. As mentioned, radio programmers avoided rap in the early days as much of the more mature demographics wanted nothing to do with it. The popularity of rap probably grew with the generations that discovered it as kids and began to have more of an influence on sales, etc. By 2000, rap had really reached mainstream status? |
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Post by mga707 on Mar 9, 2021 12:01:10 GMT -5
I really don't consider "Rapper's Delight" the first rap song. I would consider Pigmeat Markham's 1968 hit "Here Comes The Judge" as the first "unofficial" rap song. ...which was covered by Shorty Long, who had the bigger pop hit with it. Both made the 40, Shorty got to #8, Pigmeat to #19. Similarly, the Sugarhill Gang were covering a local NY/NJ-area 'underground' rap hit with "Rapper's Delight". And what about Bill Cosby's "Little Ole Man" the previous year (1967)? |
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Post by 80sat40fan on Mar 9, 2021 14:15:17 GMT -5
I really don't consider "Rapper's Delight" the first rap song. I would consider Pigmeat Markham's 1968 hit "Here Comes The Judge" as the first "unofficial" rap song. never said it was the first rap hit... but it is considered the first rap song to make the Top 40. While not a rap song, "Rapture" by Blondie was the first song to hit #1 with some rap lyrics in it... maybe that makes the list with an asterisk? |
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Post by woolebull on Mar 9, 2021 15:11:47 GMT -5
Good discussion. To answer some of the thoughts: I respectfully believe that rap was not a novelty in the 80's. I mean literally this week in 1985 there was a movie that opened across America entitled, "Rappin'". The Chicago Bears almost became the second act to have a rap top 40 hit. Rap was a part of America, and the America culture and music scene by the mid 80's. I do believe that CHR stations tried to steer away from urban music, particularly in the first half of the decade. I mean, look at the number of non white females that sang on a #1 song in just the year of 1979. It would take Whitney at the end of 1985, six years into the 80's decade,for the 80's to equal the non white female voices that sang on a #1 that we heard in 1979. And they kept on steering...like through the 90's. Someone name the biggest CHR/ R-n-R rap song of the 90's? U Can't Touch This? Does that accurately define music in the 90's? Also, other good comments...what is rap? Did Cosby do it in 67? Did M do it in 79? And should Rapture have it's own special place (I certainly think it should 80sat40fan). For the record, I did not say Rappers Delight was the first rap song. It is considered by many to be the first rap song to hit the top 40. By the way, the real reason I posted this...did I miss a rap song that hit the top 40 in the 80's? Love the conversation, so please respond. I agree that the 90's is when rap started to see it's heyday. I also am baffled that Dan Seals came closer to a top 40 hit in 1985 than Kurtis Blow did. |
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Post by Shadoe Fan on Mar 9, 2021 15:38:39 GMT -5
Remember, Mainstream Top 40 radio steered away from rap into the early '90s, hence why AT40 changed its chart (to avoid metal too) and Rick Dees kept skipping over songs. Of course by the mid '90s that began to change and by the late '90s it was mainstream.
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Post by woolebull on Mar 9, 2021 15:50:34 GMT -5
Remember, Mainstream Top 40 radio steered away from rap into the early '90s, hence why AT40 changed its chart (to avoid metal too) and Rick Dees kept skipping over songs. Of course by the mid '90s that began to change and by the late '90s it was mainstream. They did. I mean the Geto Boys were on the last AT 40 before the change happened in 1991. However, I would disagree with your comment about by the mid '90's it was mainstream on the charts. Was there any rap song that hit the top 10 from 1996 on to the end of the decade on CT/AT? There are a few, but not many. |
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Post by mkarns on Mar 9, 2021 15:57:26 GMT -5
I think that by about 1990 rap and hip-hop became fairly mainstream on the charts and has mostly stayed that way since. There haven't always been a lot of actual rap records in the CHR top 40, but it was no longer treated as particularly exotic or a curiosity. Nor did it die or permanently fade as some expected (and/or wished); subgenres and artists rose and fell as in any genre, but it showed an ability to evolve and reinvent itself and to fuse with other genres (rock, dance/disco, R&B, pop) to stay popular as succeeding generations embraced it.
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Post by woolebull on Mar 9, 2021 16:18:55 GMT -5
Great point, mkarns. I will correct myself by saying I wasn't saying rap was not mainstream in our world, just on the CHR charts. You had more rap songs, but rarely any of them became big "Top 40" hits. Which is not reflective of 90's music at all from a pop level. It begs a different question: I talked about the backlash of urban music/disco in 1979 which really altered the charts from 1980 on for a long time. Was there a particular music in the 60's/early 70's that did the same? The backlash from Disco/Urban Music seemed to have longer legs than most backlashes. |
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Post by Shadoe Fan on Mar 9, 2021 16:43:21 GMT -5
Remember, Mainstream Top 40 radio steered away from rap into the early '90s, hence why AT40 changed its chart (to avoid metal too) and Rick Dees kept skipping over songs. Of course by the mid '90s that began to change and by the late '90s it was mainstream. They did. I mean the Geto Boys were on the last AT 40 before the change happened in 1991. However, I would disagree with your comment about by the mid '90's it was mainstream on the charts. Was there any rap song that hit the top 10 from 1996 on to the end of the decade on CT/AT? There are a few, but not many. I'm sorry if there was a misunderstanding, as I meant that it began to become more mainstream in the mid '90s. Coolio had top 40 hits starting in '94. Bone Thugs N' Harmony went top 20 in 1996 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart. Rick Dees switched to a chart that had more rap on it (sort of like the old combined CHR chart R&R had before April '94). |
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Post by chrislc on Mar 9, 2021 17:38:42 GMT -5
Great point, mkarns. I will correct myself by saying I wasn't saying rap was not mainstream in our world, just on the CHR charts. You had more rap songs, but rarely any of them became big "Top 40" hits. Which is not reflective of 90's music at all from a pop level. It begs a different question: I talked about the backlash of urban music/disco in 1979 which really altered the charts from 1980 on for a long time. Was there a particular music in the 60's/early 70's that did the same? The backlash from Disco/Urban Music seemed to have longer legs than most backlashes. One example is anything by acts from the USA, especially the week ending May 8 1965. Gary's father was very popular in France so maybe that was the reason he slipped in to the Top Ten.  1 1 MRS. BROWN YOU’VE GOT A LOVELY DAUGHTER –•– Herman’s Hermits (MGM)-4 (2 weeks at #1) (1) 2 7 COUNT ME IN –•– Gary Lewis and the Playboys (Liberty)-6 (2) 3 18 TICKET TO RIDE –•– The Beatles (Capitol)-3 (3) 4 2 GAME OF LOVE –•– Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders (Fontana)-8 (1) 5 5 I’LL NEVER FIND ANOTHER YOU –•– The Seekers (Capitol)-7 (5) 6 3 I KNOW A PLACE –•– Petula Clark (Warner Brothers)-8 (3) 7 8 SILHOUETTES –•– Herman’s Hermits (MGM)-6 (7) 8 4 I’M TELLING YOU NOW –•– Freddie and the Dreamers (Tower)-9 (1) 9 9 THE LAST TIME –•– The Rolling Stones (London)-7 (9) 10 12 CAST YOUR FATE TO THE WIND –•– Sounds Orchestral (Parkway)-8 (10) |
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Post by retrodaddy on Mar 9, 2021 20:32:40 GMT -5
How 'bout LL's Goin' Back To Cali and I'm That Type Of Guy?
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Post by kchkwong on Mar 9, 2021 21:19:35 GMT -5
1989 Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc Expression - Salt N Pepa Me Myself and I - De La Soul Bust a Move - Young MC Hey Ladies - Beastie Boys Me So Horny - 2 Live Crew Principal's Office - Young MC "Expression" didn't hit the Top 40 until 1990, and "Principal's Office" first reached the Top 40 on the Jan 6, 1990 chart. |
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