The music video for "Rapper's Delight" is a treasure

The Sugarhill Gang revolutionized the music scene in 1979 when their single "Rapper's Delight" was released. It was the first song to feature an artist rapping from start to finish, and the tune itself was catchier than athlete’s foot in a Planet Fitness locker room. It helped make hip hop mainstream and pave the way for future artists like Kurtis Blow and Run-DMC to make careers out of their rhymes.

[Not totally unrelated: this mega-article from Complex is a dynamite read and has tons of great finds starting with Grandmaster Caz, the man whose lyrics were ripped off to help make “Rapper’s Delight]

If you’re like me, you haven’t only memorized the radio versions of the song (which can check in at 3:55 or 6:30), but the entire 14:35 album version as well. Sure it’s impressive when I do it in the car, but what’s even more amazing is that the group actually recorded the whole thing in a single take.

Until recently I was completely unaware the song had a music video. I’m not sure how I stumbled upon it, but I am eternally grateful I did. As if the song could get any better, watching Wonder Mike, Master Gee, and Big Bank Hank bop around a water park with bikini-clad women illustrates the true genius of the Gang.


Now that you have familiarized yourself with the video in its entirety, please enjoy a sequence of gifs highlighting my favorite moments. Let's dive right in:


In case you didn't pick up on it already, a red light in the center means it’s a big moment, baby bubba.

How powerwalking became a fad:

Honestly, just keep your eyes on the blonde the whole time:

You won't be disappointed:

You. Won't. Be. Disappointed.

You can tell she's feeling it just by looking at her hands:

This blonde has the same face I make when I go to Tim Hortons in the morning and it suddenly gets overrun by a bunch of youths.

I get that dancing in a pool chair isn't the most natural thing, but these women just look like they're auditioning for Weekend at Bernie's.

Popular posts from this blog

Old Team Tuesday: The Burke brothers

Image
Old Team Tuesday is a weekly feature taking a look at former teams that have gone by the wayside. This week’s edition takes a look at the most successful youth baseball team Buffalo ever produced.

 **********************************************
At Cazenovia Park in Buffalo, there are two baseball diamonds and a softball field nestled along Warren Spahn Way. Spahn, the greatest baseball player to ever call Western New York home, represented South Park High School on that dirt. However, for all the accolades Spahn would go on to collect in his 21 seasons as a major league pitcher, his story isn’t the only legend born on that field. In 1929 – some 18 years before the Little League World Series was established – a group of teenage boys that epitomized the term “rag-tag” had a summer to remember, and it all started with a little rejection.
--- Hot starters ---

 James “Mugsy” Flynn rounded up the rest of the castoffs and implored them to work on their fundamentals in order to become better. Flynn…
Read more

To Appreciate Where We Are, We Must Understand Where We’ve Been: A Comprehensively Brief Look At The History Of Upper-Level Soccer In Buffalo

Old Team Tuesday is a weekly feature taking a look at former teams that have gone by the wayside. This week’s edition revisits the entire history of soccer in Western New York. This is the original, unedited version of the same topic that appeared on queencityblitzers.com on April 23, 2014.
**********************************************
The relationship between Buffalo and soccer has been more unstable than a marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor. Nine teams have set up shop here, with few finding any measure of success and most being forced to close down or move away. Now, as Americans finally seem to be falling for the beautiful game, that sentiment is echoed in western New York, where Buffalonians finally have a team they can cozy up to.
Our Past:
Let’s start in 1976, near the tail end of Gabor’s sixth marriage. The Buffalo Blazers of the Canadian-based National Soccer League opened play at War Memorial Stadium. A mediocre first season didn’t disparage the team, and in 1977, the club finally made …
Read more

Old Team Tuesday: The history of soccer in Buffalo

Image
Old Team Tuesday is a weekly feature taking a look at former teams that have gone by the wayside. This week’s edition does not look at the history of a single team, but revisits the entire scope of upper-level soccer in Western New York as a whole.
**********************************************
The relationship between Buffalo and soccer has been more unstable than a marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor. Nine teams have set up shop here, with few finding any measure of success and most being forced to close down or move away. Now, as Americans finally seem to be falling for the beautiful game, that sentiment is echoed in Western New York, where Buffalonians finally have a team they can cozy up to.
Let’s start in 1976, near the tail end of Gabor’s sixth marriage. The Buffalo Blazers of the Canadian-based National Soccer League opened play at War Memorial Stadium. A mediocre first season didn’t disparage the team, and in 1977, the club finally made progress, going 12-3-3 to wind up third in their 10-…
Read more